Corruption
by Vanwa Lullaby
Summary: Edward made the simple mistake of chosing to fight with his family against the newborns rather than stay with Bella.As a result,Bella is taken and fed lies that begin to make her doubt the truth and put her on the edge of insanity. Give it a try, please.
1. Preface

**So I'm back... again. I know most of you who read my last story, Solstice, were hoping for a sister story from Daniel's POV Sorry, but this isn't it. This is just the preface to my new story.**

**Later on I will be making some notes up here to some important changes I have made to make this story work.**

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**PREFACE**

The only thing between me and my death was a gangly, sandy colored, teenage werewolf. His eyes were locked on the two vampires and low growls rumbled out from deep in his chest. As menacing as he seemed, I knew he had no chance. This would be the end for both of us.

The corners of Victoria's mouth curled up in a cruel smile as she took a step closer. Seth's growls increased in volume in response. "My, my, what do we have here? A girl and her overgrown mutt all alone in the woods?"

Seth took a step closer to her, putting more space between us. Victoria's eyes flicked to the gap that had grown and her smile grew even more. I pressed my back as hard as I could to the cliff I stood against, my hand's gripping the jagged rock. It cut at my hands but I didn't care. I just needed something to hold onto, to help keep me stable, for the time being.

"Take care of him Riley, before the rest of those mutts show up." Victoria said with a jerk of her head towards Seth, not once taking her eyes off of me. The other vampire, Riley, started slowly towards Seth, seeming a little unsure of the wolf. Seth didn't move, but rather stayed where he was, snarling with his ears flat against his head.

When Riley launched himself at Seth, Victoria didn't even flinch. Nor did she when Seth caught the young vampire in his teeth and threw him across the clearing. I watched as Rileygot right back up and went for Seth again. This time, however, he managed to get around Seth's deadly teeth and knock the wolf into the cliff a bit down from me. I felt the rocks behind me shake a little as Seth hit them and a few small rocks tumbled down ontop of Seth's still form. Riley slowly made his way towards the young wolf.

I turned my eyes back to where Victoria was to find her only a foot away from me, an amused look on her face. Having been caught off guard, I gasped and clenched my eyes shut. My whole body was trembling violently with fear and the cold, and my heart thundered against the inside of my chest. My body knew that my death was here for me.

A cold hand encircled my throat, leaving little room for breathing. I could feel her breath on my face as she spoke. "There's nobody here to save you this time."

I opened my eyes to find her face just an inch away from mine, the smile no longer on her face. It was silent, other than my breathing. The sounds of Seth and Riley's fight were gone. In the back of my mind, I hoped that little Seth Clearwater hadn't met his death at the hands of that other vampire, Riley.

Victoria's hand tightened on my throat, cutting off of air completely. She pulled me away from the rocks, drawing blood from my hands as she did so. I closed my eyes again, not wanting to see her face as she killed me.

As my head started to hurt from lack of oxygen, I felt her reach down with her other hand and pick up one of my own hands. "You smell so good. I'll be careful not to spill a single drop."

Just as I felt myself start to slip out of consciousness a new voice reached my ears, a voice I knew so very well.

"Get your hands off of her." Edward growled. The hand disappeared from my throat I collapsed to the cold, snowy ground. I gasped, air flowing into me. Despite that, my body was still going into overload and I was slowing losing it. I tried to open my eyes, but couldn't do it.

The last thing I felt before slowly slipping into unconsciousness was two strong, cold arms lifting me from the ground.

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	2. Story

**So FF is being unwilling to cooperate with me and this is the 3rd time I've typed up this authors note. Anyways...After this, don't expect updates more than once a week. i'm pretty busy now-a-days. Let me now if you see any mistakes and I'll fix them! ;)**

_August_

"Why don't you just kill me already?"

Riley looked up t me from the other side of the dark room to where I sat on an old couch. He seemed slightly surprised by my question. "Kill you? Why would I kill you?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, not trusting his confused expression and tone one bit. I had lost track of time, but I knew that it had been a couple weeks since he had taken me from the fight. I didn't know where we were either, but we were close enough to home to see posters for me up, pleading for anyone with any information about my whereabouts to please contact Charlie. "Why keep me alive? Why not kill me? Or change me?"

He sighed and turned his back to me. "You should just be happy you're not dead now."

"It would be better than this." I snapped. I laid down on the musty old couch, with my back to him. It was about all I could do to get away from him: turn my back.

In the past couple of days, I found myself sleeping more, getting weaker. My sleep was ever filled with nightmares and dreams of the Cullens and my Jacob. I wondered what had happened to them, if they were okay. The pain and loss they met at the hands of Victoria and her newborns seemed to be all I could dream about. And always when I wake up in the morning, being unable to pull myself out of the dreams, I find myself feeling even less rested than before.

Also, I had lost weight. Riley stole what food for me he could, but never did he take much for fear of being noticed. My food for the day usually consisted of bread, fruit, and water. I ate whatever he brought me, whether it was something I liked or not.

The places we stayed in were never very nice and we never stayed more than a couple days. Old warehouses, the forgotten houses on the little side roads, and empty stores all consisted of the places we stayed. The place that we were currently at, and had just arrived to, was an old crack house that had gotten busted a couple months before and forgotten about. The walls and floors were covered with stains and a couple pieces of worthless furniture lay about the house. It was certainly no dream house.

"I don't want to be alone." Riley said quietly. I didn't move, even though he surely knew I was still awake. "And if I try changing you, I could kill you. I could drain too much, or all, of your blood or I could crush you in my grip in a lapse of focus. I've done it before."

I turned and sat up so that I could see Riley. His back was to the night sky, his arms folded across his chest. "But you've changed other before, right? Surely Victoria didn't change all of those vampires by herself."

His face seemed to darken a little at the mention of Victoria but he said nothing about it. "Of course I have. But somebody was there to stop me before I took it too far. And I still killed some of those who I was supposed to change. Sometimes the call of blood is just too strong."

"Does my blood call to you? I mean, more so than some others?" I asked, shivering. Riley's eyes took me in and a small smile crossed his face.

"Very much." He softly, disappearing from the room.

I sighed and sank back into the couch, wrapping my arms around my legs. With the sun gone, it was getting rather cold, and all I had on was a pair of jeans, a white tank top, and an oversized hoodie that was actually Riley's. The sky was darker than normal with heavy clouds and although there was no snow on the ground, it was clear that there was some coming. I knew we would probably be leaving as soon as it started snowing, for there were a couple busted windows in the house, including on in the living room where I was, and the roof didn't seem to be holding up very well. Put a couple inches of snow on it and it just might collapse in on us. Riley would be able to make it out of that, but I probably wouldn't.

Suddenly, I felt something being draped across my shoulders and I reached back with one hand to discover that it was a thick blanket. I looked to my left where Riley stood next to the arm of the couch. "Thanks."

He shrugged and went to sit down on the other side of the couch. I pulled the blanket tighter around me, starting to warm up more. "You looked cold."

"Well, it does look like it's getting ready to snow out there." I pointed out. He laughed softly. "What?"

"Snow in August. It's just not right."

I was surprised. "August?"

"August twenty-third." Riley confirmed with a nod. I sighed and looked down. "Why?"

"I was supposed to be married by now." I said quietly, looking down at my left hand. There was no ring on my ring finger for I had refused to wear it until necessary. Now, however, I wished that I hadn't insisted on that. It would have been at least one thing I had to remind me of Edward. "I would be married now if it weren't for you."

"I'm sorry, Bella. I didn't know. I only did what I was asked to do." Riley replied softly.

I turned my eyes to him. "And what was that? To kidnap me?"

"To help her create an army." He sighed, "And to kill the 'golden eyes' because we could feed all we wanted if we did."

I let out a bitter laugh. "That was a lie. She would have left you all to be killed by the Volturi as she as she got what she wanted."

"Which was?"

"Me… dead."

Riley seemed slightly surprised by that. "That would explain why she left the fight to come find you. What'd you do, managed to get away from her as dinner one night?"

I smiled and shook my head. "I got her mate killed."

Riley's eyes darkened slightly at that and he looked away. After a minute he looked back to me. "How did you manage that?"

"It's a long story." I said, running my fingers over the scar on my wrist without really thinking about it.

"I got time." Riley said with a smile. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"Well, if I'm gonna sit here and tell you a story give me a minute to get comfortable."

He watched as I wiggled around in my blanket, turning myself so that I was facing him, and had the blanket completely wrapped around me. He smiled. "Comfy?"

I smiled and nodded. "Now try not to interrupt me too much. I understand if you ask a couple questions, but don't be asking them every other sentence." Riley just rolled his eyes at me. "Well, it started just a couple months after I had moved back to Forks to live with my dad, Charlie. It wasn't long after I had managed to figure out what Edward and his family, the Cullens, are. Edward and I were dating and it was the night that I was going to his house for the first time to meet his family. They were playing baseball, and I was going to watch."

"Baseball?" Riley asked, raising his eyebrows.

"It's quite a sight." I said with a nod. He chuckled and gestured for me to go on.

"Well, they had been playing a couple minutes when Alice, Edward's 'sister', said that they were coming. Just a couple minutes later, three vampires showed up, just as Alice had predicted. There was a male, Laurent, a female, Victoria, and another male, Victoria's mate James. At first they just talked of joining the Cullens in playing baseball, but Edward picked up from James' mind that he wanted me for a 'snack' and would do just about anything to get me.

"Edward decided that I needed to get out of Washington and as far away from Forks as I could. OS I he took me back to my house where we pretend to fight and I told my dad that I was leaving to go live with my mom again, who lived in Phoenix, Arizona at that time. Once I had packed what I needed, we went to the Cullen's and from there I flew to Arizona with Alice and her mate Jasper. The others stayed behind to hunt for James and Victoria. Laurent had agreed to try their lifestyle of feeding off of animals and went to live with another coven like the Cullens in Alaska.

"After having no luck with James or Victoria, Edward decided he was going to come down the Arizona and get me from the hotel where we had been staying. He was going to take me somewhere else until James was dead. While we were waiting, however, I got a call from James, saying that he had my mom, and that I needed to follow his instructions without telling anybody if I wanted to save her. I had to get to my mom's house without anybody knowing.

"When we went to the airport to get Edward, I managed to slip away and get a taxi to my mom's house. When I got there, there was a number for me to call. I called the number and James told me that I needed to go to the ballet studio I used to take lessons at when I was little. I of course left without even thinking about it. If it was to save my mom then I would do it.

"I got to the studio to find that James had tricked me. He had been using home videos to make me think that he had my mom. I had gone straight to my death."

I paused there and took a deep breath. "He played with me, video taped me, trying to get me to plead for Edward to come and save me. But I didn't. I didn't want Edward to come because he could have gotten himself hurt or even killed. But right before James was about to kill me, Edward showed up. Some of the others were coming, but Edward was the fastest, so he got there before everyone else.

"They fought, but at some point, James managed to get away from Edward and came for me again. He bit me on my wrist, fully intending to kill me then and there, with Edward watching. But-"

"Wait," Riley interrupted, just as I figured he would, "He _bit_you?"

I nodded and pulled my arms out of the blanket. I pulled up one of the sleeves of his hoodie to reveal the cold scar on my wrist. Riley reached out and slowly ran his fingers over it, raising goosebumps on the surrounding skin. He looked up at me, confused. "Edward got James away from just as the others arrived. They took care of him while Edward sucked the venom out of the wound. I was in the hospital for awhile after that."

"So he stopped you from changing by sucking out the venom?"

I nodded. "It hadn't spread out of my arm yet so he was able to do it without killing me."

"So what happened after that?" Riley asked. I smiled. He was getting into my story.

"Once I got out of the hospital, I went back to Forks. Laurent was with the Denali coven and Victoria was nowhere to be found. Life with Edward ad the Cullens went back to normal, and we spent most of the summer together. It was the best summer of my life.

"September came around and school started back up. I was happy, and I thought Edward was too. But one day, not too long after my birthday, he left, telling me he didn't love me. All of his family was gone without even saying goodbye. It crushed me. Months passed and no word came, nothing, from him or Alice, who was my best friend.

"But then I started hanging out with Jake. He quickly became best friends and he made me feel more like myself than I had in a long time. But he eventually joined the wolf pack, leaving me. I was alone again, more miserable than before.

"Being bored one day, I left the house, planning on spending a day hiking in the woods. After being out there for awhile, I came across th- a meadow. It was beautiful and only after had I took a couple steps into it did I noticed the person standing at the other end of it.

"I had only ever seen him once before in my life, but I instantly remembered him, blurting out his name, 'Laurent!' He talked to me of the Cullens while I was trying to figure out what was different about him. Or rather, I realized too late, _not_ different. Despite having gone to live with the Denali's, he still had red eyes. He then told me why he was here: Victoria had asked him to come, to have a look around. She wanted me. But Laurent told me I was lucky, because he was rather thirsty and he wouldn't make me suffer like Victoria would have. He was going to kill me then.

"Just as he started to come for me, he heard something. After a second, he disappeared. I was confused, not knowing then of the pack. They came and killed him while I made my way back home.

"I eventually learned of the pack and me and Jake were able to hang out again. Other than the fact that a sadistic vampire was after me, things seemed like they were getting back to normal. Jake was supposed to take me cliff diving, a promise he made to me before he was changed, and on the day that we intended to go, Victoria showed up in Forks. He left me t o go after her, leaving me alone. I decided to go diving myself.

"It turned out not to be a very good idea. I would have drowned if it weren't for Jacob, and Victoria had fled from the pack into the water. Jake drove me back to my house, only to find that Alice was there. After all those months, she was back. She had seen me jump from the cliff and thought I had committed suicide. Edward had found out and gone to the Volturi for death. We had to go save him."

"Who are the Volturi? You've mentioned them twice now." Riley asked.

"They're like the… ruling force of your world." I said, "They make sure that we stay a secret and they get rid of any who pose a threat to that rule. No human can know the secret. They, of course, have a human in on the secret."

"But how are you still alive then? You know about us."

"Aro, their leader, has a unique gift. With a touch of his hand to your skin, he can know all thoughts you've ever had. When Edward showed up wishing for death, Aro learned of me just from touching him. Bit when Alice and I showed up to save Edward, Aro saw from Alice a vision of me as a vampire. He trusted her vision enough to let me go, but promised that he would be checking up on me to make sure that I was changed.

Riley nodded his head. "But what did he get from you?"

I smiled. "Nothing. I seem to have a… a shield against those kind of powers. Edward ca- couldn't read my mind either."

"Hmm… That's strange."

"Well, I've never really been normal." I said with a laugh.

He smiled. "Go on with your story."

"Well, with Edward with us, we went back to Forks. Again, everything seemed back to normal. Victoria was still out there with both the pack and the Cullens looking for her. But she just seemed to disappear.

"Then, one day, I realized that some of my stuff was gone." I said, looking at Riley who was looking down at his hands. "And when Edward came over, he found an unfamiliar scent in my room. Nobody was familiar with it. Edward thought it was the Volturi. I thought it was Victoria.

"We were able to later confirm my suspicions. It was Victoria and she was building a newborn army. Jasper, who had dealt with newborn armies before, trained the Cullens and pack for when they came. I asked Edward if he would stay with me and Seth in the clearing during the fight bit he managed to convince me that I would be fine. And we waited. And finally, you and Victoria came for me."

We were both quiet for a couple minutes. Finally, Riley spoke. "Thank you for telling me that, Bella. It's cleared some things up for me. Now laid down, sleep. You look tired."

I smiled and nodded to him, falling asleep almost as soon as I laid down.

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	3. Prisoner

**Hmmm... There was something I was going to tell you guys but I honestly can't remember what it is. Oh well...**

...

_August_

When I woke up the next day, I realized with a start that we were traveling again. Instead of being on the couch where I had fallen asleep, I was wrapped up in the blanket in Riley's arms. He carried me smoothly, weaving through the trees that surrounded us.

"Where are we?" I asked softly, stretching as best as I could in the blanket. Riley looked down at me with a soft smile on his face.

"Morning, sleepyhead," he said, avoiding my question. He never told me where we were, but I still asked him every time we headed off to a new place.

I settled back down into his arms. Usually I would ride on his back, but there were times when I would still be sleeping when he wanted to leave or I just didn't feel good and he would carry me in his arms. It was actually pretty nice since his body usually protected me from the elements and I didn't feel the bumps in our path. When on his back, the rain and wind could get to me, but it was still just as smooth. After one of our many fights or when I wanted to see the scenery, I would ride on his back. He didn't seem to care either way, even though carrying me in his arms limited what he could do.

I sighed and leaned my head against his chest, shutting my eyes. Rather I liked it or not, Riley was all I had anymore. He held my fate in his hands. He could leave me somewhere to die or kill me himself. But he also kept me alive, fed me and took care of me the best he could, with the promise of making me his immortal companion when he was sure he had it in him to control himself. Riley cared for me and I couldn't find it in me to hate him even though he tore me away from my life.

"Come on Bella," Riley said, shifting me in his arms. I opened my eyes and looked up at him. We had stopped. "We're almost to the town. Time for you to get walking."

He carefully set me down on my feet, steadying me when I swayed a little. Once I was steady on my feet I smiled up at him, "I'm good. Let's go."

He smiled at me and we started walking towards what I assumed was the edge of the woods and the town. Riley reached out and pulled the blanket from where it had been loosely draped around my shoulders. "We're not as close to the mountains anymore so it shouldn't be so cold here. You won't be needing this."

I nodded my head. I had known that we were near the mountains for I was often able to seem them in the distance when we traveled and being so close to them explained the cold. As I looked around, I couldn't see the mountains in the distance anymore. That may have just been due to the fact that it was an overcast day and the clouds were hiding the distant mountains from my eyes. Given it was still a little chilly where we were but it was more like an early autumn day than a winter's one. I would be perfectly fine in Riley's hoodie.

Riley folded up the old blanket and set it at the base of a tree on the edge of the woods. Then we headed out of the trees, and into what seemed to be the dwelling part of the town, for we came right into somebody's back yard. It was not unlike Forks, the way the houses were set right on the edge of the trees. And it was just as green as Forks here too. I felt a sudden pang of home sickness. This place was too much like my old home.

As we walked along the sidewalks towards what I assumed to be the town center, we saw more and more people. They threw curious glances at us, obviously wondering who the new people were. It was obviously a small, close-knit town where everybody knew everybody else. When people weren't shooting glances at us, they talked and laughed outside of stores. I smiled for the happiness that seemed to be everywhere in this little town.

"Come on," Riley said, giving my hand a tug and drawling me out of my thoughts. "I figure it's 'bout time we got to stay somewhere a bit nicer for at least a few days."

Riley led me to a small, two-story wood building that had a couple cars parked in the small parking lot next to it. As we got closer, I realized that it was a small pub. "But Riley we don't-"

"Have any money?" Riley finished for me, glancing at me with a smile on his face. He still hadn't let go of my hand. "Yes we do. And we're about to get more."

I sighed, not needing to ask where Riley had gotten the money. I knew it would just start another argument and I honestly didn't feel like arguing with him at the moment. I just let him lead me into the building.

The place wasn't very busy, only a couple of people at a table and a few men laughing at the bar. The only person who looked up when we entered was the barman, who was getting another drink for one of the men. Riley made his way towards the bar with me following a bit behind, gripping his hand. My eyes raked across the room, taking everything in. It was very warm in there, and smelt as though there was a wood fire going somewhere, although I didn't see or hear a fire going.

"What can I do for ya'?" The barman asking, leaning across the bar towards Riley and me. The others who sitting at the bar were now looking at me. I kept my eyes on them for a moment longer before turning back to Riley and the barman.

"We'd like to get a room." Riley said to the man.

"Hey, Butterbur, where's my drink?" One of the men called. The barman ignored him.

"Just one room?" Riley nodded. "They only got one bed in 'em."

Riley laughed as I felt a blush creeping up and across my face. "That'll be just fine."

"Alright then." The man said, walking away and coming back with a key with a tag on it. "You got room number three. Just go up them stairs to the left of the bar. It's just a bit down the hall. All the rooms got their numbers on 'em. Oh! How long will ye' be staying?"

Riley glanced back at me. "Not quite sure. A couple days, three at least."

As Riley and the man talked of payment, I started looking around the room again. The bar was nestled between two staircases that led up to the rooms. The tabled were all close together on the other side of the room, a couple of them pushed up against the wall.

"Come on Bella." Riley said, giving my hand a soft tug. "Let's go find our room."

I followed Riley up the left stairs and a couple rooms down the hall. He unlocked our room once we found it and let me go in first. It was a small room with an average sized bed in the middle. There was a little nightstand next to the bed with a lamp and alarm clock on it. In the corner of the room was a small table with two chairs. On the wall opposite from the bed was another door. I walked over to it and opened it.

I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't a bathroom. I didn't even think the rooms in places like this would have their own bathrooms. It was small with a toilet, sink, and shower stall. A smile crossed my face. It had been awhile since I had had a shower. I walked over to it and pulled open the door. There was a small bottle of shampoo and soap set on a ridge on the shower wall. On the shelves under the sink were a couple of towels and washrags.

"That man said he made sure we got a room with a bath. Apparently we look like we've been on the move for awhile and might enjoy a clean up." I turned around to find Riley standing just a foot away from me. He had a smile on his face.

"Well, you look fine to me." I said, "But I don't know about myself."

Riley laughed and turned away. "Go on. I just know you're dying to get clean."

I rolled my eyes at him and closed the door behind me.

...

It felt good to finally be washed and clean again, even if I didn't have a brush or perfectly clean clothes when I got out. I dried my hair the best I could and raked my fingers through it. It would have to do.

When I went back into our room it was empty. I sighed and sat down on the bed. Riley must have thought that I would take longer in the shower for he never left me alone when I was awake. Whenever he would hunt it would be while I was sleeping. He would be there when I fell asleep and when I woke up he would be there, his eyes bright red. I tried talking him into at least _trying_ the Cullen's diet of feeding off of animals but he always laughed it off, saying that it wouldn't help any when it was time for him to change me.

My eyes scanned the room, looking for a way out without me even really thinking about it. I would never be able to get away. And even if I did, I would have no where to go. I had no money to call anybody to let them know that I was alive and where I was or to take a bus or taxi. The only way I would even have a chance of getting away is if I managed to catch a plane. But Riley could get me on my way to the airport, and there was again the problem of money. I sighed and put my head in my hands. As long as I was human, there was no way out for me.

"Bella, are you okay?" I heard Riley's frantic voice say, "What's wrong."

I lifted my head up out of my hands and looked at Riley, who was crouched in front of me, hands wrapped around my arms. "What would you do if I tried to run away?"

"I'd come and find you," Riley said softly, seeming surprised by my question. "Bella, you're not thinking of trying to leave me, are you?"

"Of course I am!" I shouted at him. He fell back at my outburst and was looking up at me from the floor. "Of course I think of trying to get away from you. Why wouldn't I? You took me away from everything I knew! My friends, my family, my _fiancé_, my _life!_"

"Bella, don't think that you're the only one here whose lost everything. Victoria ripped me from my life with no warning. You at least knew that something like this could happen to you."

"You didn't have to suffer being dragged around by her though! You drag me around with barely enough food and just enough clothes on my back to keep me warm. I never know where we are or where we're going and I rarely know the date and time!" I yelled at him.

"At least I tried to make it up to you by bringing you here, where you can have a decent meal and a warm bed to sleep in! I even went out and got you something else that you could wear!" Riley yelled back, standing up, "I'm trying to make this as easy on you as I can, Bella."

I glared at him. "You won't be able to keep me with you once you change me. I'll be stronger than you and I'll run. You won't be able to stop me."

"I'll just follow after you, Bella. I'm not letting you get away from me," Riley said.

"And I'll go back to the Cullens," I replied, "They'll take me back and kill you."

"Bella," He said softly, as if he was trying to keep me from hearing what he was going to say, "We've been gone for almost two months now and nobody has found you. They have a mind reader and somebody who can see the future. Don't you think that they should have found us by now?"

I shook my head as what Riley said sunk in. Tears welled up in my eyes. "They wouldn't give up on me. They _can't_ just give up on me. How _dare_ you even say that! They'll keep looking for me. _They have to._"

"Bella, you have to accept that-"

"No!" I shouted at him, looking up at him with my teary eyes, "They would _never_ give up on me! It is not even a possibility that they would even leave me here with you to be your prisoner!"

"Is that you really feel?" Riley asked, sounding hurt, "That you're my _prisoner?_"

"Yes," I said quietly, casting my eyes down.

He sighed. "Well then I'll just go find some other poor soul to torture and kill." He paused at the door. "But I will be back."

I stayed where I was for a couple more minutes after he left. Then I wiped roughly at my face where the tears had fallen and stood up with a sigh. My eyes roamed around the room and found a bag on the floor next to the bed. I walked over and picked it up then sat back down on the bed with it. I look inside of it.

Sure enough there was a pair of skinny jeans and a black tee-shirt inside for me to change into; the clothes Riley had mentioned. There was also a hairbrush, toothbrush, toothpaste, and a couple other things in the bag. I smiled softly to myself but it didn't last long. Riley had been kind enough to go get me these things and all I did was yell at him and tell him I couldn't stand to be around him. I sudden felt very guilty for my harsh words but Riley wasn't there for me to apologize. But he would be back later and I could apologize to him then.

I picked up the bag again and made my way into the bathroom, pulling the door shut behind me. I changed into my new clothes, which fit me better than my old ones did. Once I finished with that, I put my old clothes in the bag, leaving the sweater Riley gave me out and walked over to the mirror with the brush, toothbrush and toothpaste. I brushed my teeth and hair, then set them back down on the sink. I could put them back before we left.

I looked up in the mirror and what I saw surprised me. It had been awhile since I had looked in a mirror and what I saw was not the person I remembered. I seemed even paler than before, if it was possible, and my face was thinner. My eyes were dark and help some sort of detachment that wasn't there before. The person looking back at me wasn't me; it was a complete stranger.

...

**Sorry for the length but I felt that if I continued it I wouldn't be able to stop where I wanted. But hey, I have the beginning for the next chapter now. ;)**

**Is anyone else having problems with putting page breaks in their chapters? Every time I use one and try to save the document, it says it saves it when it didn't. Actually any time I try to change something in the document it won't save it.**

**Please review!**


	4. Strangers

**So sorry for the long wait! I feel so bad about that! and then on top of it, I'm giving you a chapter that's not even 2000 words! You guys have no idea how bad i feel about this.**

* * *

_August_

I turned my back on the mirror, not liking what it showed me. I ran my fingers through my hair that was now just a little damp and grabbed Riley's sweater as I left the bathroom. I walked back over to the bed and sat down, setting the sweater down next to me on the bed. It could get cold later and I didn't want to have to get it out again.

After a moment of thought, I bent down and grabbed my converses that were sitting next to the bed. I pulled them on and laced them up. It was clear that Riley wouldn't be back anytime soon after our fight, probably taking it out on some poor guy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I sighed and stood up, heading towards the door. Even if I didn't have any money I was going down to the bar because I honestly didn't feel like just sitting there and waiting for Riley to come back. If he came back and I wasn't here, he could come and find me. I left the room and made my way downstairs.

Instead of being almost empty as it was before, the bar was about half full, mainly with men who already seemed to be starting on the nights drinking even though it wasn't yet evening. As I made my way to the bar, I passed a guy who wasn't more than a couple years older than me. He eyeballed me, his eyes going from my head to my feet and back up again as I passed. I self-consciously crossed my arms over my chest, causing him to laugh. I made sure that my seat at the bar was several down from his.

"What can I get for ya'?" The barman asked, leaning on the bar across from me.

"Just a water, please," I said, knowing that he had to give me the water free. It was a requirement.

"Hey, Butterbur!" Somebody down the bar called, "Come 'ere!"

The barman mumbled some thing under his breath and I only caught part of it, "…s'not my name. How many times do I got to tell 'em?"

He slid a glass a water to me and made his way down to the call, still mumbling. I started down into my water, not drinking it. I jumped when a glass was suddenly set down in front of me several minutes later, causing the barman, Butterbur as the men had been calling him, to laugh. "Courtesy of the gentleman down the bar."

I sighed and put my head in my hands, not needing to look down the bar to see who he had tipped his head to. It was no doubt the man from just a couple minutes before, trying to get my attention by buying me a drink. "Drink it. You'll be feeling better if you do."

I pulled my head up and look at the barman who was smiling at me. Only after I offered him a small smile did he walk away, going to tend to other customers. I looked at the drink he had set down in front of me and pulled it closer, moving my water out of the way. The drink itself was dark brown and in a clear glass, not unlike the ones you see on TV. I leaned forward and inhaled, letting myself breathe in the scent. It smelled sweet and even had a slight fruity smell to it. I could tell it wasn't beer for Charlie usually drank a can or two while watching a game or with dinner. But I could tell it was alcoholic and wondered for a moment if I should tell Butterbur if I was underage.

Bella Swan from Forks would never even think about drinking underage. She knew the risks of alcohol and knew how much trouble she could get in if she got caught, especially with her father being the police chief. But I didn't have to be that girl. I could be the girl in the mirror; the stranger, the detached girl. Maybe she doesn't care what others think, doesn't care if she gets in trouble. She could drink and flirt and not care one bit about it. Have all the attention on herself and not blush and stumble, but enjoy it. I could be that girl. I picked up the glass and took a drink.

The taste was definitely stronger than I expected, causing me to cough a little as it went down. It wasn't unpleasant, however; it had sort of a sweet taste to it, a little fruity, and maybe even a bit nutty. I smiled, thinking of what Riley's reaction would be when he found out that I had been drinking. He'd probably tell me I was an idiot, then demand to know where I had gotten it. I laughed quietly to myself and took another drink.

"I thought you might like that," a voice said from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder only to confirm that it was the guy from earlier.

He sat down next to me, much to my displeasure. "It's good. Although I must say I'm not much of a drinker."

"Mhmm," He smiled, "My name's Rodger. "

"Marie," I said without thinking about it. I didn't need to be telling my name to strangers, especially with all the people looking for me.

Once again his eyes roamed over my body. "Such a _lovely_ name for such a _lovely_ girl. But you said you don't drink?"

"Yeah," I said, not liking the way he was looking at me, "My _boyfriend_ doesn't like it when I drink."

Rodger smirked. "Controlling boyfriend?"

I turned my head to glare at him. "Caring, not controlling. He doesn't want me to get drunk and do something I'll regret later like climbing into bed with some _loser_ I just met."

"Now I know you ain't-"

"Oh, you know I'm talking 'bout you," I said, already sounding like the detached girl in the mirror. Normally I would have never said something like that.

For a moment he looked like he was going to strike me. "You ungrateful, little _bitch_! I buy you a drink and this is how you repay me?"

"Repay you?" I said with a snort, "I didn't ask for you to buy me a drink."

We were both on our feet by then. I reached behind me, my hand finding the handle of my glass. The old me had completely given over to the other me; the stranger had control of my body now and I didn't mind one bit. She knew what she was doing.

"Your eyes were just screaming at me to do more than just buy you a drink."

I narrowed my eyes at him and started to bring my arm around, drink in hand. Just as I went to throw my drink o him, however, the door to the pub opened and it grew quiet. Everybody's eyes, including Rodger's, moved to the newcomers, and then quickly looked away as if afraid. There was a tension in the air, as if there was some danger present that I didn't see or feel.

Taking my eyes off of Rodger, who was slowly making his way back down the bar, I looked to the closed door, which the two strangers now stood in front of. Although I couldn't feel the warnings that seemed to be coming off of them like everybody else could, one look at them had fear racing through my veins and my heart pounding. One look at their dark eyes and pale skin told me all I needed to know about them. They were vampires.

The stranger in me gone for the time being, I set my drink back down and quickly made my way back up to my room without looking back at the two newcomers. Once I had reached the top of the stairs, however, I realized that Riley probably wouldn't be back yet. There was a chance that he might, though, so I quickly made my way to our room.

I was faced with a new problem when I reached the door to our room; it was locked and Riley had the key. I groaned and yanked on the handle, hoping that the door would magically open, which it didn't, of course. I sighed and looked around the empty halls, hoping to find some sign of where Riley was. Finding none, I decided to start calling out. "Riley? Riley where are you?"

There was a soft click from down the hall, and I turned to find Riley standing a couple feet away from me, his eyes now a bright red. "Bella? Is everything okay?"

I shook my head, sure that I looked a little insane at that moment. "There's others here, Riley!"

"What are you talking about? There's a lot of other people here!" He moved forward and grabbed my arms in an attempt to calm me. After a moment of watching me, realization dawned on his face. "Others like me? Do you know them?"

I nodded. "Yeah, like you. There's two of them. But I don't know them. They're not Cullens," I hesitated a moment before adding, "They remind me of the Volturi a bit."

"Ahh, but we do know a Cullen…" stated a spidery from behind us.

"…by the name of Carlisle," said another voice, so like the other that I almost thought that it was one person speaking.

"And it would be in your best interests not to compare us to the_ Volturi _again." Said the first voice, practically spitting out the name Volturi.

Riley and I both whipped around, Riley positioning himself so that he was half in front of me. The two vampires were watching us with strange expressions on their faces. Something about the two of them created a fear in me that only the Volturi had ever caused before, being one of the things that had reminded me of them. Something about these two also gave off an air of great age and wisdom, just as Aro, Marcus, and Cauis did.

"You know Carlisle?" I asked, my voice steady despite my fear.

"Not very well," the blonde one said.

The black haired one smiled. "Although it seems that _you_ know him."

"We've met," I replied, my fear slowly starting to slip away, "Although it seems I might know him better than you two do."

"Hmm, it seems that she might just be what we're looking for…"

"…and her friend could be of use to us too." The blonde finished. They spoke as though they didn't realize we could hear or just didn't care that we could.

Riley growled at their words and I reached out, grabbing his arm in hopes to calm him. His eyes flicked back to mine, then forward again. He didn't growl but his body tensed even more under my hand. I let go of Riley's arm and moved to step around him, towards the two. I made it to his side before he stopped me, grabbing my arm just as I had done to him. My eyes flicked over to him then back to the strange vampires in front of us. I was interested in what they were saying.

"Who the hell are you?" Riley snarled.

"I don't think that's very important right now," The blonde stated, "I think what we _want_ is much more important."

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**So sorry again for the wait and length. I feel so bad about that. **

**Points to anyone who can tell me where the barman's nickname came from without looking it up!**

**Please review!**


	5. Revenge

**Bah, I'm leaving in the morning at 8 'till Friday afternoon and I still have to pack and do a couple other things before then, so please let me know if you see any mistakes since I don't have the time to read over this.**

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_August_

"What _do _you want?" I asked, moving as far forward as Riley's grip on my arm would allow. Only after I shot a glare back at him did he let go. I took a couple more steps forward until a was just a yard away from the duo. Riley stayed where he was. "What do you want with us?"

"We need you to help us," the black haired one said.

I was starting to get a little impatient. "With what?"

"Revenge," the blonde said with a smile.

"Revenge?" Riley asked, coming to stand next to me again, his body still tense, "Revenge against what?"

"Why don't we go into your rooms, where we can talk?"

"And then we shall deal with your little mortal friend here," The blonde fixed his eyes on my when he said that, sending a shiver down my spine.

Riley nodded and grabbed my hand, pulling towards the door to our room. He unlocked it and held the door open for the two older vampires. The made their way past us into the room, and Riley and I followed, closing the door behind us. Riley gestured for the two to take the two chairs by the table as he and I sat down on the bed, but the blonde shook his head, indicating that they would rather stay standing.

"Let's start with who the hell you are," Riley said, eyes darting back and forth between the two of them. I squeezed his hand in an effort to calm him some.

The blonde gave a dry chuckle. "That is always a good place to start. I am Vladimir and this is Stefan. We are all that remains of the Romanian Clan."

"_All that remains?" _I repeated, something clicking in my head right away. Vladimir nodded. "Then that's what you want our help with, isn't it? Getting revenge on whoever destroyed the rest of your clan?"

Stefan chuckled. "Your are a smart one, little mortal. And it seems you know more about our kind than you let on."

"What?" I asked, confused as to how he came to this conclusion, "What do you mean by that?"

"Exactly what he says," Vladimir answered in a dry voice, "You clearly know much of our kind."

I glanced over at Riley, then back to the two vampires in front of me. "How do you know?"

"Well, for starters you're traveling with one of our kind. And the words you spoke to him in the hall just moments before made it clear that you know what we are," Stefan stated, tilting his head to the side a little, "And you also told us that it seemed that you knew our dear Carlisle better than we did. But the main thing was your reaction to us. You didn't react as all the other humans did." I cast my eyes down, not wanting to see his, and the others, staring eyes. "The other humans knew something as soon as we entered, but you didn't know until you looked at us. Our pale skin and dark eyes gave us away."

I finally found the courage to bring my eyes back up to the Romanian vampires. "Yes, I know many of your kind. I was once even close with a family of them," I paused, and sighed, "But not so anymore."

I watched Stefan and Vladimir as they stood there, watching me. There eyes raked over me, leaving me feeling exposed. I didn't look away or flinch however; I simply held their gaze. Riley squeezed my hand, which he still held. "That is a tale for another time, perhaps."

"Yes, a tale for another time," Vladimir echoed.

"But we want to hear what you have to say now," Riley said, "Why need you need us to help you with your revenge."

Stefan smiled a cruel smile. "Ah, but that is so simple. Those who clad themselves as saints came with their witch twins and destroyed our coven and ripped our empire from us. They burned our castles, the two of us alone escaping."

"We were slower than them, having sat still for so very long. They too had begun to petrify from staying still for so long, but not nearly as long as us," Vladimir continued, "But we could see just fine, whereas the ash from their flames had clouded their eyes."

"Now we need your help in getting our revenge, destroying their empire just as they had ours," Stefan concluded.

"But why us?" Riley asked, confused. I, on the other hand, had begun to shake my head as the details slowly fell into place, and blurted out, "Your insane!"

Riley turned his eyes to me, seeming surprised, as the other two simply looked at me, waiting for me to explain. "The Volturi are thousands of years old! They have loads of experience and trained guards. To even think of trying to take them down is insane, and to try to do so is suicide!"

"But you are forgetting, little mortal, that we too our old, even older than they are. And we too have experience. Help can be created," Stefan stated.

"If somebody came along and tore down all that you knew, destroyed those that you knew and loved, destroyed your _life_, what would you do? Would you not spend the rest of your days hoping to get revenge on them?"

I sighed and looked down, knowing that they were right. "I would spend the rest of my days hunting down the bastards who did and rip them into pieces with my own hands, then burn them bit by bit until there was nothing left of them."

"Then you see why we need you," Stefan said, taking a step forward., "You understand our want, our _need_, to get revenge. You can help us."

I looked over at Riley, already knowing what I wanted to do. "It'll be like Victoria all over again," he said softly, "Immortals hell bent on revenge on the ones who took the most important thing to them away. It won't end well. That's what got us into this mess, Bella."

"I know it is, Riley, but I still want to help them. It's about time somebody tried to put Aro in his place."

"You just said yourself that to even think about was insane and to attempt it would be suicide!"

"We're all already insane, Riley," I said, pulling my hand out of his, "You have to have been to think that you could take me and hide from _them_ forever. And I have to be insane to actually be happy here with you, and _without_ _him._ We have nothing left to really live for, Riley! Your_ precious_ Victoria is gone, and I'm going to be gone from you to if you don't want to help them! As for m, you took everything away that I ever had to live for."

Taking my eyes away from Riley, I stood up. Before I could even take a step, however, he had hold of my hand, drawing my eyes back to him. "I don't want to lose you, Bella._ You are all that I have left anymore._"

"Then don't fight them anymore, Riley. Just help me help them," I said softly. He sighed, then stood up, letting go of my hand so that he could wrap his arm around my waist. We turned to face the two vampires watching us.

"We'll help you."

_..._

_The trio watched on, with fear showing on their features for once. They knew that it was over, that this was the end of their rule and lives. They saw the two clothed in black coming for them, finally getting their revenge. Two others flanked them, killing any who tried to stop them. The identities of the two bodyguards weren't clear, however, it was as if it wasn't certain whether they were there or not, or who they were._

"_Revenge is sweet, isn't it?" A spidery voice asked from one of the two figures in black._

"_Oh so sweet." The other, very similar to the other, replied. Identical smiles spread across their faces._

"_We could leave you here, with nothing…"_

"_Burn down your home…"_

"_Destroy your empire…"_

"_Kill those that you hold most dear…"_

"_But that's not want we want from you."_

"_Although we have already killed your dear wives and started to burn down your home."_

_The two of them laughed coldly. "Ahh, the sweet taste of revenge."_

"_You won't get away with this," Aro stated, his voice steady despite how he felt, "Even if you do kill us-"_

"_There is no if about it." The first voice said._

"_Even _if_ you do kill us, somebody will seek revenge on you. The-they will kill you."_

"_We do not care if we live or die…"_

"_As long as you die."_

* * *

"They're going to destroy the Volturi!"

"What?" Carlisle said, surprised by my outburst, "What did you see, Alice?"

"Two vampire attacked the Volturi with an army. The Volturi guard was almost decimated, few still living to fight," I said. I could still smell the smoke. "It was unexpected, they had no time to prepare. Both sides were well trained."

"Did you see what they looked like? Why they attacked?" Carlisle urged. Esme had come out from the kitchen to stand next to him and Rosalie stood in the doorway.

I shook my head. "It was hazy. I know that the two were short, one with ashy blonde hair, the other black. The spoke of revenge against Aro and the others in similar, spidery voices."

"Stefan and Vladimir…" Carlisle said softly. He glanced back at Esme, then to Rosalie and back to me, "Call the boys, tell them to come back. We have to go to Volterra."

"Bella…" Esme said softly.

Carlisle shook his head, "We have to help Aro now. Once this is over with, we can get Demetri to help us find her."

Esme nodded and headed back to the kitchen. "Edward won't want to come back." I stated.

"Emmett and Jasper can get him to come back." Carlisle replied with a sigh.

It was quiet for a minute, the sounds being Esme's soft voice, asking to the boys to come home, and Rosalie moving around upstairs.

Despite the current situation at hand, I let my mind drift to something else; Bella. She had been gone for over two months now, with no sign. The only thing we had to help us were my shirt visions. Flashes of her in old rooms sleeping, talking and laughing with the fiend who stole her, eating. It was never anything useful. But they let us know that she was still alive and human, even if she was thinner and paler, which gave us hope.

But then there were the visions that tore us down. The ones of Bella smiling and laughing with Riley killed Edward when he saw them in my thoughts. Never did she speak of us, or seem to be thinking of us, waiting for us to come save her, in my visions. That hurt all of us a little. I wondered sometimes if it would be better than I saw her sad and miserable, clearly think about us. Would that be better than her having some happiness with that monster?

"We'll find her, Alice," Carlisle said softly. I looked up, surprised. "Bella. We won't give up until we do."

"I know."

"She's part of this family, too."

"I know," I repeated softly. I stepped forward and Carlisle captured me in a comforting embrace.

"And no part of this family gets left behind."

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**Wow, when I was reloading this, the end of the chapter just totally got jacked up. So if it's a little differnt than before, I'm sorry!**

**Please review!**


	6. Wrong

**Wow, I disappear again for two weeks and here I finally am with a short, 1500 word filler chapter. I am so sorry, please don't kill me! I've been incredibly busy(Band camp took up a whole 5 days, then practice and getting ready for school...).**

**So Some people have asked about Bella's disbelief in the Cullen's. Its very simple: She's being a pessimist. **Wouldn't** you be one too if you were in her situation?**

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"Where are we going?" I asked, leaning my head on Riley's shoulder. After a moment, he turned his head a little so that he could see me.

"Away," he answered with a smile, knowing that it didn't answer my question. I sighed, not voicing the fact that once he had turned his face away again I could see the occasional twitch of his lips, letting me know that he was talking to the other two, too fast and quiet for me to catch.

I closed my eyes, pressing my cheek down onto Riley's shoulder. I knew _why_ we had to leave: they didn't want people to hear me scream as the venom burned through my body. And it probably wouldn't be a good idea to have a freshly made vampire in a town full of people. It would be a massacre just waiting to happen.

Finally we came to a stop. We were at the edge of the woods, but instead of facing a small town as before, we were facing a large rock wall. It reminded me of were I had been placed during the newborn fight; where Riley had taken me; where I had last seen Edward.

Riley set me down and I moved so that I was standing next to him. Stefan turned around and took a step towards us, hand outstretched. "Come, my little mortal."

I looked over to Riley and he nodded his head. He may approve of Stefan changing me, but I could see in his eyes that he wanted it to be him who was changing me. It would give him some real claim over me.

I looked back to Stefan and took a couple steps towards him, holding my hand out. His cold hand wrapped around mine and he drew me to him, barely leaving any space between us.

"This won't hurt a bit," Vladimir lied from somewhere behind Stefan. He laughed cruelly and Stefan joined in for a moment. "No, not a bit."

He pulled me right up against him, and let go of my hand. One hand moved to the small of my back, clutching me to him, while the other he tilted my head back with, exposing my neck. It then moved to my upper back, and I could feel his fingers press down into my skin.

Without warning his fangs sank into my neck. A soft, involuntary gasp slipped out past my lips. The very pull of sucking out my blood seemed to stop my heart, to keep it from beating. His grip tightened on me, no doubt an automatic reaction to making sure that his prey wouldn't escape or be easily taken from him. It squeezed the very air out of me and seemed to crack some bone. His death grip on my would have surely leave me bruised and swollen if I would be remaining human with enough blood in me to bruise and swell.

My vision began to swirl and my eyes flutter shut. As darkness took over I couldn't help but think that this was supposed to be Edward.

_

* * *

_

_At first glance, you would have thought that they were embracing each other. But if you looked again, you would have seen that it was wrong. The girl's head was tilted back and her arms pinned to her side. She was limp in his arms. The man had his face pressed to the crook of her neck and his arms seemed to be wrapped a little too tightly around her. The way he held her almost seemed a little possessive. If you looked even closer, you would have seen that the girl wasn't moving. It was all wrong._

_But then the man drew his face back from the girl and released her from his hold carelessly. She flopped to the ground and hit it with a _thud._ The man looked at her before turning and stepping away._

I pulled myself back to the present with a gasp. I could feel Jasper's hand on my arm and his attempts to calm me, but I ignored them. Instead, I simply put my head in my hands, hiding the unfailing tears.

"Oh God, we're too late."

* * *

As my body spasmed again I became aware that I could focus on other things than the pain. I could hear the distant birds singing and the far off sound of cars. And of course, there was the always constant mantra that had been there since I let out my first- and only -scream.

"They don't love you, Bella. If they loved you, they would have gotten you back by now."

"They gave _up_ on you… They don't care. Why else would they not be looking?"

"He _left_ you Bella. He doesn't care for you. You were never more than a weak mortal girl to him. A _human_ _plaything_."

"Why else would he leave you alone with just a young wolf when he knew that there were bloodthirsty newborns in the wood? _He wanted you to die. They all did."_

"They never cared for you. "

"But we do."

It had been going on for hours, or days, or maybe even weeks. Time was something I had no way of tracking; for so long the pain had been my only thought. But in the few moments of clarity, when I could focus on something else, I could try to focus on the voices to try to tell the passing of time but it didn't help. I didn't know how long this burning pain had been going on for, nor did I know how much longer I had. All I knew was that I wanted it to end.

"You can trust us, Bella. We won't leave you like they did."

The voices all ran together to me. I could clearly hear the differences in them, but I didn't even try to tell them apart anymore. They were all saying the same thing. That somebody had hurt me and that whoever he was, he didn't care for me. I didn't know who they were talking about, but something told me that they weren't lying; that somebody _had_ left me and that it _had_ crushed.

As another wave of pain hit me, I withered on the ground. I felt as though my whole body had been lit on fire. It was the pain of a changing body; the pain of dying, and coming back to life.

As the voices grew quiet, I noticed a change. The burning was slinking back from my fingers and toes and making its way towards my heart. My heartbeat picked up, beating faster and harder, as if trying to burn through the pain. But as the pain continued to make its way towards my heart, I knew that it was a hopeless battle. The pain would eventually win.

My back arched off the ground as the pain grew to its climax in my chest. My heart gave one last burst of speed then stopped, taking the pain with it. My back came back to the ground. It was quiet.

Finally, I opened my eyes. Above me I could see trees rising up, and part of a rock wall. Dust swirled in the air, sending off light reflections. A bird flew overhead, heading from one treetop to another. I could track each beat of it's wings and see the color of the thin band on it's leg.

"Ah, Bella, you're finally awake."

The voice startled me and without even thinking about it, I was up on my feet, ready for a fight. My eyes raked over the three vampires standing around me and, although they didn't seem threatening, I kept my poise. But an instant later, I remembered; these were my friends. The one who was standing a bit off from the other two had taken care of me as we ran. And the dark haired one, the one who had spoken, he had been the one to change me!

I straightened up and took in the three vampires around me. Seeing them through new eyes made them seem even more beautiful. No longer did they seem deathly pale. Stefan actually had a light flush to his cheeks, no doubt from my own blood.

Blood… The very thought of it brought the painful burning in my throat to the front of my mind. I gulped and looked to them, hoping that they would lead to me blood. One hand reached up to my throat. Stefan and Vladimir laughed.

"Bella," Riley asked, drawing my eyes to him, "What do you remember?"

A new thought joined my jumbled head: _this__ was supposed to be Edward._

As my eyes met Riley's I simply said, "Edward."

* * *

**Again, so sorry. And it might be awhile before you get another update; I start High school Wednesday.**

**Please review!**


	7. Snow

**SURPRISE!**

**So I know I wasn't supposed to be back until late September(I know I said Halloween, but I was thinking that it was the end of September then) but my dad went out last night and got a whole new computer, tower, printer and even a new desk. He then continued on to set it up and it was ready to go by morning! **

**Now this took a completely different turn than how I originally had it written, but I like this ****version of chapter 6 better. I think you'll like it too. ;)**

...

"Why must you go?"

Stefan sighed and let out a small chuckle at my words. "I must go, for we cannot do this by ourselves. The four of us and an army of ones created by us will not be enough, no matter how well we train them. We need the help of old ones, one from our time," Stefan said, gesturing to where Vladimir stood with Riley, quietly talking, "They will know ways of fighting we do not and can help us to train not only the new ones, but you."

I turned my face away, knowing that he was right. I couldn't help but feel this way every time Stefan had to leave. There was a special bond between us, one that belonged only to a fledgling and their sire. From the moment I had opened my eyes to life, Stefan had been there. I knew that I could trust him and look to him for anything.

"My Isabella," Stefan said, turning my head towards him with a finger under my chin, "It will not seem like long to you. What is but a few months to an immortal such as us when we have forever to look forward to?"

The reason for his and Vladimir's departure loomed in the back of my mind. "But with a battle looming on the horizon, we might not have forever to look forever to. We simply have the time given us until then. It would not be proper to look forward to forever when it is not certain, but to surviving."

Stefan chuckled at me. "My, you are being quite the pessimist. We shall both make it through the battle and whatever comes our way afterwards, my dear Isabella."

"And what of the other two? Do you think they shall make it?"

"Vladimir and I wouldn't have survived this long if we couldn't handle a fight such as the upcoming one," Stefan replied with a smile, "And do you truly think that Riley would have survived the wolves and others of our kind if he was as helpless as you seem to think?"

I sighed, knowing that he was right. "How are you going to find us? We can't wait here for you for long."

"We'll find you. You need not worry," Stefan replied with a chuckle, "But it is time for us to go."

We walked over to where the other two waited. Riley moved to my side and took my hand. I smiled at him before turning my attention back to the two older vampires. Neither said anything but each offered us a small nod before disappearing. I sighed and leaned my head against Riley's shoulder.

"They'll be fine, Bella," Riley said, leaning his head on top of mine, "You need not worry for them."

"I know," I sighed, "But I'm still going to. Just like I would if it were you leaving."

Riley smiled and turned, pulling me with him. "Come, I think it is time we left here too. It would not be wise to dwell in one place for too long as you have already learned."

"Yes, I think it is time for us to leave here also" And with that, we left.

...

We traveled for days, heading south-east and back into the states. We only decided to stop in an area when it came time for us to hunt. We were just outside some city in Minnesota, just after dark.

"And make sure you hide the body," Riley reminded me as we were getting ready to set out on our own hunts, "We don't need the police to find another dead body in some alleyway."

I glared at him, my dark eyes easily finding him in the dark. "One time I slipped up. You won't ever let me forget that will you?"

"As if you could forget it yourself." Riley said with a smile. I kept glaring at him but eventually it gave away to a smile, "I'll come find you when I've finished, for I have no doubt I'll be done before you, okay?"

I nodded, my mind already switching over to the hunt. I waited until Riley disappeared from my view before slinking off in the other direction.

Quickly I found a small, but bustling, bar. I slipped in virtually unnoticed and let my eyes scan the small, smoky room. I spotted a man sitting alone in a booth in the corner of the room, eyeing some of the girls who were milling about. With a coy smile on my face, I sauntered over to where he sat.

"Mind if I sit here?" I asked, looking down at him. He looked up at me and smiled.

"Not at all, sugar."

I smiled and slid in next to him instead of across from him like it seemed he had been expecting. He looked over at me and smiled. "You know, it's pretty cold out there. I'm still pretty chilly and could use a big guy like you to help warm me up some."

Without wasting a moment, the guy lifted his arm up and rapped it around me, drawing me closer to him. I could smell the alcohol on him, but it didn't matter. I smiled at him as I moved so that I was straddling his lap. He seemed a little surprised at my actions but didn't stop me. He was too drunk for his instincts to overpower the thought of a pretty girl sitting on his lap, even if it meant his life. I leaned forward so that my nose was up against the side of his neck and drew in a breath.

Without hesitating after getting that first sweet scent of his blood, I sank my fangs into his neck.

He didn't struggle as I drew the very life out of him. After only a minute I pulled myself away. By no means was all the blood gone from him, but he was dead. The very pull of me drawing the blood from him was enough to stop his heart from beating and the amount I took was enough to top it off. When they found him they would simply think that it was the alcohol that killed him.

"Hmm and you never even told me your name." I said with a smile as I climbed off his lap. I let his body drop forward so it looked like he had passed out on the table. Then I quickly left the bar, disappearing as easily as if I was never there.

I prowled the dark streets, looking for another mortal to help satisfy my thirst. Barely anybody was out this late. Finally, my eyes found a group of boys right around my age outside of some store. I could tell that they were saying bye and getting ready to leave so I stayed back, waiting for one to break off from the others. I would lure one away if I had to.

After watching them for a minute, I became aware of the fact that I was being watched too. None of the boys had yet to noticed me, though, so I tore my eyes away from them. My eyes easily found the lone figure, slowly making his way down the opposite sidewalk towards me, both of his amber eyes locked on me. I knew him for what he was just as he knew me for what I was. Without waiting to find out who he was or what he wanted, I turned and ran.

I ran, careful to avoid any places where humans might see me. But my precautions slowed me down and the other vampire was quickly gaining on me. I glanced back over my shoulder to see that he was not far behind me. His face drew up foggy memories in my mind but I forced them

back down for the time being.

The sound of human voices near caught my attention and I quickly made towards them, a plan forming in my mind. I turned around a building and slowed to a human running place. I was in an outdoor shopping area that was filled with people who were probably either returning unwanted Christmas gifts or spending money they got as a gift. I weaved through them at a pace a little fast for a mortal, but not so fast to make them think that there was something unnatural about it. Some people turned to stare at me, no doubt wondering about the young lady rushing through them from some unseen danger clad only in a pair of jeans and a thin t-shirt. I paid them no attention for I

had finally lost my pursuer and was nearing the other side of the center.

I made it out and instantly sped back up, my eyes searching for Riley for this was the area that he had headed for earlier. "Oh God Riley, where are you?" I said desperately a couple minutes later. I didn't know if I was still being followed and I didn't bother to check.

A hand shot out and grabbed my arm, halting me, and I swung my other fist at whoever it was. My fist connected with naught but air, but the hold on my arm tightened and pulled me closer. "Bella!"

"Oh God, it's you, Riley!" I said, wrapping my arms around him. But I quickly pulled back and grabbed his hand, trying to drag him with me as I ran. He wouldn't budge.

"Bella, what is going on!" He demanded of me, "You were running as though the very devil himself was after you!"

I shook my head. "There was another one, Riley! Another one of us and he was following me! I managed to lose him in the humans but he might still be coming! We need to go!"

"What?" Riley hissed, looking around, "Did he say anything? Did he seem to recognize you? Did you recognize him?"

I shook my head again. "No, he didn't say anything and I don't think he knew who I was. But… but I remembered something. I think he… attacked me when I was human. But I'm not sure."

Worry crossed Riley's features and he mumbled something that I didn't catch. He started moving in the way I had just been heading. "Come on Bells, we need to get out of here."

"That's what I was just telling you," I mumbled as he pulled me along with him.

We ran and quickly made it out of the city and into the smaller suburbs surrounding it. We slowed our pace once we reached them out of fear of being noticed but didn't let out guard down.

"Bella, tell me, could you remember his name? Or anything about the vampire who was after you?" Riley asked softly, looking at me.

I sighed. "No, only that he attacked me."

"Then it could be any one of them…" Riley murmured quietly to himself.

"What?" I asked, confused, " Anyone one of who?"

Riley looked up, surprised. "Sometimes I forget that you're not just a little human who doesn't catch everything I say anymore."

"Riley."

"Don't worry about it, Bells. It's nothing," he said with a sigh. I, too, sighed.

"At least I don't think he's following us anymore," I said.

Riley smiled. "Following _you_, Bella. He never saw me. I daresay that if he did, he wouldn't have stopped following us until he had torn me to shreds."

"Riley, what are-"

"Nothing Bella, nothing," Riley replied with a laugh, smiling over at me, "Just the mumblings of an insane man."

I laughed. " I have no doubt that your insane."

Riley stopped in his tracks, pulling me to a stop with him. He let go of my hand and crossed his arms over his chest. "I am not insane."

"Whatever, Riley," I said, turning my back on him, and starting to walk away, "You're the one who said it in the first place."

I only made it a couple steps before a wet snowball crashed into the back of my head. My jaw dropped and I stopped in my tracks. I could hear Riley snickering back where I left him. I turned on my heels to face him.

"You didn't."

At the look on my face, his snickers turned into full blown laughter. "Oh, but didn't I?"

I bent down and scooped up a big handful of snow and quickly packed it into a snowball. Then I flung it at him as he was still laughing, catching him off guard just as he had with me.

Riley's laughter stopped instantly and he looked up at me, surprised, with snow glistening in his hair. "Oh, that's it. It's on." And with that, he launched himself at me.

To anybody who walked by or looked out their window at us, we must have looked like two best friends, or even two teens in love, wrestling and laughing in the fresh snow.

**...**

**So, any guesses as to who it was after Bella? **

**Please, review!**


	8. Victoria

**Again, having problems with FF, so I'm sorry if this shows up completely underlined and weirdly spaced...**

**Sorry that it took me so long. Bands really been pushing us. I collapsed yesterday and got sick from dehydration durng something for band. :\**

**Even though I think I'm forgetting something... On to the story!**

...

I raced though the trees, trying to lose my pursuer, or at least get a good enough head on him so that I could defend myself. He seemed to follow me effortlessly, however, making my escape attempts seem futile. An idea started to form in my head as I ran.

I dropped from my flight through the trees, landing lightly on the snow dusted ground with a slight pause. It gave him the chance he needed to catch up with me. He closed the space between us quickly, and I knew without even looking back that he was reaching out for me. I took that as my opening and swung around on one foot. My other foot slammed hard into his cheek and sent him flying. Before he had even hit the ground, I had taken off again.

With his setback, I easily stayed ahead of him. He may have had the upper hand in skill, but I was faster, if just barely. I made it to the edge of the trees without him getting as close as to catching me again. I broke through the trees, my feet landing lightly in about a foot a snow that the trees had done pretty job of keeping out from under them. Grinning, I turned around and held my arms open to Riley as he broke through the trees. He laughed and walked into my embrace.

"I finally got away!" I said, elated. He laughed again, kissed my forehead, then drew back to see my face.

"Stefan would be proud," Riley said with a smile, "But I daresay that the kick was a little unnecessary. That hurt, you know."

I threw a wolfish smile back at him. "You know you deserved it. And besides, you were tying to kill me! I was desperate!"

He laughed again and I couldn't help but join in. Riley's hand slid down my arm to my hand and he let go of my other arm. "How 'bout we go into town? You deserve a break."

I nodded and used my free hand to pull the collar of my coat a little closer. I felt as though the extra clothing hindered me but it was necessary as to not raise suspicion from the humans. We already stood out enough.

We made our way into town, hand in hand. Few others were out walking the streets of the little town we were in. Despite that, the one pub in town seemed to be bustling with people for we could have easily heard the humans within even without our supernatural hearing.

"You know, this really does seem like such a happy little town," I said to Riley, swinging our hands between us. He smiled down out me, "It's so full of life."

He chuckled lightly as we came to the small town center. They was a statue in the middle of town of a man, a woman and their small baby, all of them with a light coating of fresh snow. We stopped to look at it.

"'Tis a strange statue to have in the middle of ones town," Riley remarked.

I nodded in agreement. "It is. I wonder what it means."

We moved closer to look for a plaque or something, but we found nothing to tell us of its meaning. As we got closer, however, I felt that something was off about it; something didn't feel right about the statue itself. "Do you feel that?" I asked Riley softly.

"Yeah," he whispered back, eyes roaming over the statue, searching for anything out of place. However, nothing seemed wrong about it. It looked like a perfectly normal statue. "I don't like the feel of it; let's go."

I nodded in agreement and let Riley lead me away. As we made our way out of the town square, I couldn't help but to look back over my shoulder at the statue. Nothing had changed about it; the small family still stood there with a light dusting of snow over them.

We walked on for a couple minutes in a comfortable silence. We passed by an old church that had a cemetery out behind it. I looked through the bars of the gate surrounding it as we passed. An elderly couple seemed to be the only ones visiting it this chilly winter night. They were placing a wreath on one of the graves. I stopped, and nudged Riley's side with my elbow, then nodded in the couple's direction. He smiled.

"Some people don't realize that old love is just as sweet as young love," he said softly. I smiled up at him.

"I know."

We started walking again, little shops giving away to small houses and cottages. Under the moonlight, the small, snow coated town seemed like something out of a movie. Something bad happening here seemed impossible at that moment. It was just too perfect.

"Riley," I said softly, "I think we should leave here before it becomes time to feed."

He looked at me, eyebrows raised. "Oh, but surely you'd enjoy a little disturbing of the peace. After all, you do seem to enjoy screwing with your prey and those around them."

"No, not here," I said, ignoring his jibe at me, "It just doesn't seem right."

"If that's what you wish," Riley replied with a smile.

We came to a small cul-de-sac and he stopped once we had reached the opposite side of it, the curve facing the road leading to it. He sat down on the curb and smoothed some of the snow away from the spot next to him, then patted it, signaling for me to sit down next to him. I plopped down and he hooked our arms together. I leaned my head on his shoulder and sighed, content.

As we sat there, however, my thoughts started to drift. Questions started to form in my head that would have probably been better off left unsaid. Things I had been thinking about before but was

able to repress at the time. But I couldn't help it now; I was too curious for my own damn good.

"Riley," I started softly, raising my head from his shoulder, "Who am I?"

Riley looked over at me, a little startled. "Why, you're Bella, of course."

I shook my head. "No, I mean before I became… this," I said, gesturing to my body, "I remember some things. Like for a month or two before my change, I was with you."

He sighed, then nodded his head. "Yeah, we were… traveling together. But before that, you were Isabella Swan, daughter of the police chief of Forks, Washington."

"I remember Charlie… And Renee too. But it's hard to. I can barely even remember their faces. It's like looking at someone through a thick fog; like a really old photograph."

"It's like that for all of us, Bells," Riley said, putting his arm around me and letting me lay my head on his shoulder again, "Some of us lose everything; they have absolutely no sense of who they once were. They can't even remember their own names."

"I don't want to become like them, Riley. That's why I need you to tell me who I am! I can't lose myself!"

He sighed, "Bella, you're not going to lose yourself! Your memory is just as immortal as you are! You won't forget who you are! And even is you could, I wouldn't let you."

I shook my head, "Why won't you tell me Riley? I want to know who I am!"

"You're happy now! Why ruin that with the past?"

"What are you hiding from me?" I demanded, pulling my self away from him, and slamming my hands down on the concrete beside me.

"I'm not hiding anything from you!" Riley nearly shouted back.

I sighed, trying to calm myself so that I didn't wake the mortals with my yelling. "Then why won't you tell me?"

"Because I don't want you to lose yourself in the past," he replied, his voice too lowered, "It couldn't destroy all that we have now."

"Riley, you're more likely to lose me if you don't tell me," I replied, moving back closer to him.

He wrapped his arm around me again, pulling me back to him, as if making sure I didn't try to leave him then. "I know. And I can't stand the thought of losing you, Bella."

"Then tell me."

It was quiet for Riley didn't answer right away. After a couple minutes, however, he spoke. "I don't know everything."

"I don't expect you to be able to tell me my whole life story. Just what you know about me."

He sighed, then reached out and grabbed my wrist. He pulled my arm out and pushed up the sleeve of my coat. "Do you see this?" He asked, turning my wrist so that I could see the faint, crescent scar there. I nodded my head. "Do you know what its from?"

"My change?"

"No, although the scar you have from that is just as faint. You wouldn't notice this scar or that one unless you were looking for it," he said, which was true. I had never really noticed the scar before.

"Then what's it from?" I asked he let my wrist go.

"Victoria."

I looked at him blankly, the name meaning nothing to me. He watched me, gauging my reaction.

"Do you remember her at all?"

I shook my head. "The name means nothing to me now."

His face changed but I couldn't quite tell what it meant. "I'm so used to seeing you flinch or seeing some kind of fear in your eyes whenever I mention her. Although, more often then not, the fear was for me or somebody else rather than yourself. Barely ever have I seen you fear for your own life, Bells. You're too caring."

I gave him a light smile, but then let it slip away. "What did she do to me? To you?"

He took his arm from around me and ran both of his hands over his face. I couldn't tell if it was in relief or distress. I wrapped my hands around his arm to get his attention. "Who was she?"

"She created me. She's the reason you're with me."

"And she gave me my scar?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No, but she's related to the reason of why you got it."

I watched him, not saying anything. I was waiting for him to go on.

"When you were still human, you told me about why Victoria hated you so much. It's the same story of how you got that scar," Riley started, "Your scent, when you were human, was intoxicating. So intoxicating that you got a vampire by the name of James obsessed with you. He was a tracker and determined to have you. You ran from him and he fell into the chase, eventually cornering you. You were rescued, of course, but not before he could bite you.

"Now, some of your rescuers took to the job of killing James. But one of them, he came for you, and managed to drink enough of your blood to get the venom out and then stop without killing you. You'd gotten bitten, but you didn't become what you are now."

I cut him off before he could continue on. "But where does Victoria _really_ fit into this? And you're leaving something out. Who exactly was it that came to my rescue?"

"Do you honestly not remember?" Riley asked, looking down at me. I shook my head. "James was Victoria's mate. Victoria came after you once you were alone, but couldn't get to you. She then made an army once your… _protectors_ came back. That's where I come in. I helped her to make and tame the army that was made to kill _them_ and take you. But instead, Victoria died and I got you."

"Riley…" I said lowly. He was avoiding my question.

He sighed. "What do you remember about the Cullens?"

...

**Only two people guessed correctly who was chasing Bella. Oh, PLEASE VOTE ON MY POLL! It decides the fate of this story! And yes, Riley's not on there for a reason.**

**Please, review!**


	9. Love

**:D Surprised? This is much earlier than normal! But I've been real sick lately and had nothing better to do(although at first I couldn't type from how bad I was shaking) so I've been writing. **

**Oh, and I remembered what I forgot last chapter: Can anybody guess where they are? It's a fictional city from one of my favorite books!**

**PS, sorry for any mistakes. I was listening to Sweeney Todd as I edited this.**

**...**

I hesitated with my answer. What _did_ I remember? Finally, I answered, "I… I remember that there was seven of them."

"What do you remember about each of them?" Riley asked with a nod of his head, confirming what I had asked.

"There… there was Carlisle. He was their leader, their father. He was the compassionate one," I said. I stopped, and glanced over at Riley. He nodded, confirming what I had said and encouraging me to go on. "And there was… Esme. She was Carlisle's mate. She was just as sweet as him."

I scrunched my face up, trying to see through the fog that was my human memory. Some things were becoming clearer to me than others were. "Then Emmett and Rosalie, the strong and the beautiful. Alice was my best friend back then. Small and pixie like, she could see the future. And Jasper was her mate. He always had…." My sentence trailed off as I realized something. I turned and clutched at Riley's arm. "Oh God, Riley! It was Jasper who came after me!"

Riley sighed. "I figured that it was one of them. Who else would follow after you like that?"

"Do you think he recognized me?" I asked worriedly.

No," Riley replied with a shake of his head, "I think that you were familiar to him, but that he couldn't quite put a name to you. If he knew it was you, he wouldn't have given up until you led him to me."

"What? Why?"

He shook his head. "That's not important right now, Bella. But tell me, what else do you remember?"

I sighed and hung my head. There was only one other person, the one who I remembered the most about and had the most mixed feelings for. "The last person is… is Edward. He could read minds and he was the fastest."

"Bella, I know that's not all that you remember about him," Riley said softly, turning my face towards him, "Don't be afraid to tell me."

"I… I loved him," I said softly, venom tears that could never fall brimming in my eyes, "He was my everything. He would've killed for me, I'm sure. But… but something happened," I swallowed thickly, "He disappeared."

Riley pulled me closer to him. "He left you, Bells. They all did. He just took you out in the woods, he told you that he didn't love you, and left. None of the others, even Alice who was your 'best friend', said goodbye. They all just left, crushing you. You spiraled down into darkness."

"How do you know?" I questioned, looking up at Riley's face from where my head rested on his chest.

"You told me once," he replied, "When you were still human, I had been asking you about Victoria and the Cullens. It was a snowy night and I sat there and listened as you told me your tale."

"So what happened? I can't remember it all."

"Want me to start at the beginning again?" I nodded. "Okay, well you had just moved to Forks to live with your dad. You managed to figure out what the Cullens were. On your guys' first date you were going to meet his family for the first time and watch them play baseball."

"Baseball?" I asked, surprised.

Riley laughed and nodded. "Yeah, that's exactly what I said. And according to you, it's quite a sight."

I chuckled lightly for a moment. "Go on."

"Well, they had been playing a while when three vampires showed up. It was James, Laurent, and Victoria. James was a tracker and he would do anything to get you. He made a game out of it.

"The Cullens decided that you needed to get out of Forks. So you told your dad that you were going to live with your mom again and flew to Phoenix, Arizona with Alice and Jasper. The others stayed behind to hunt for Victoria and James. Laurent had left, saying he was going to join another coven of vampires that was like the Cullens.

"After having no luck with James, Edward decided that he was going to come and get you. But while you waited, you got a call from James saying that he had your mom. When you went to the airport to meet Edward, you snuck away to meet James.

"When you got there, you found that it was all a trick. He played with you, hurting you, and video taped it. James tried to get you to plead for Edward to come, but you didn't. And right when you were about to get killed, Edward showed up. The others were coming too, but Edward got there first, being the fastest as you said."

As Riley paused, I started talking. "And he bit me, didn't he? James, I mean. Then Edward saved me by sucking the venom out. At least, that's what you said."

Riley nodded. "Yeah, that's exactly what happened. Once you recovered, you went back to Forks with the Cullens and spent the summer with them. You told me that it was the best summer of your life.

"But when September came around, things changed. Your birthday came and passed. Just a couple days after, Edward took you into the woods, told you that he left you. He broke your heart, as I said before. Months went by with no word from them. You started to lose yourself to despair.

"But then you met Jacob Black again."

"I remember Jake," I said with a light smile, "He became the highlight of my day."

"Do you remember what he was?" Riley asked quietly so that there was no chance of any mortals hearing us.

I nodded. "He was a wolf; he was the big russet one."

"Yeah, he was a wolf. And once you found out about the pack, you guys became closer than ever. But one day, Victoria showed up I Forks. The pack had killed Laurent when he encountered you before. You told them of Victoria, giving them the upper hand.

"The day that she returned, you and Jake were supposed to be going cliff diving. Since he couldn't go with you, you decided to go by yourself. If it weren't for your furry friend, you would have drowned in the water that day, or been killed by Victoria, who had fled into the water. But he saved you.

"When you returned to your house, you found Alice there. Jake left you alone with her, hurt that you had chosen her over him. Alice told you that she had seen you jump and thought you to be dead. She told you that Edward had found out and was going to kill himself… out of guilt."

I inhaled softly. As Riley spoke, bits and pieces of things came back to me. I remembered the panic I felt on the plane ride to save Edward. "He went to the Volturi."

"Yes. But you and Alice managed to save him from Aro and the others with the promise that you would be changed one day. He returned to Forks with you. And other than the fact that Victoria was out there searching for you, everything had gone back to normal.

"You eventually learned of Victoria building a newborn army to kill you and the Cullens, which was how I was created. The Cullens put you somewhere in the woods to hopefully keep you safe while they fought. But instead of staying with you himself to make sure that you were safe, Edward left you with a young, inexperienced wolf. I easily got around him and Victoria got to you. She would have had you if Edward hadn't shown up I the nick of time. As they fought, I managed to get you as you collapsed."

"So… so what happened to Edward?" I asked gently.

"He killed Victoria. Other than that, I don't know." Riley replied honestly.

I hesitated before asking my next question. I was afraid of what the answer would bring. "If he didn't love me then why did he come back to Forks with me?"

Riley, too, hesitated before answering. I looked up at his face. He seemed troubled. "Victoria. They knew she was there looking for you. He simply felt as though he had to clean up after himself. They wouldn't want the blood on their hands if you were killed. After all, they did get you into that mess."

I let the answer sink in before asking, "So… so he never loved me?"

"I'm sorry, Bells, but you were never more than a plaything to him. He never loved you."

I clenched my eyes shut and bit my lip back, holding back the sobs that were trying to break out from within me. Somehow, despite the fatct that I could barely remember this, it _hurt._

Despite the fact that he was nothing but a faint, painful memory to me, _I still loved Edward._

**...**

_Alice's Point of View_

We all stood gathered for the first time in a couple weeks in the throne room of the Volturi castle. Most of us had split up and gone looking for those who could be of aid to the Volturi, or simply spreading the word. Jasper had been the last of us to return, and was just now telling of us of what had happened while he was away.

"There was one strange thing that had happened," he said after had finished telling of those he thought he had managed to persuade, "There was one vampire I encountered in the states. I spotted her when she was in the middle of hunting in a small city. There was something familiar about her, but I couldn't quite place it at the time. Before I had a chance to really look at her, she spotted me and fled. I followed her for a time but I eventually lost her in a crowd of people. "

"And what's so odd about that?" Emmett asked, "Maybe it was just someone you encountered back in your early days."

"No, she wasn't. What was so odd about it is that she was a newborn, no more than a couple months old."

"Are you sure? Did you catch the scent of any others around?" Carlisle asked, surprised.

Jasper shook his head. "No, no others. And that was strange too. For one who seemed so young, she was very welled behaved. She acted as though she was several years old, not several months."

"What did she look like?" I asked, moving closer to my mate, "Maybe one of us will know her."

"Like I said, I didn't get a good view of her, "Jasper said, giving me a quick smile, "But, from what I could tell, she was average height and thin. She had brown hair, and seemed to be maybe eighteen."

"Maybe it was Bella," Emmett offered softly.

The room instantly went quite and almost every pair of eyes flicked to Edward. He continued to look out the tall window at the sinking sun, but every muscle in his body seemed to have tensed at Emmett's words.

"Emmett!" I hissed at him, "Why would you say something like that?"

"We don't know that it wasn't her." He argued back.

Edward's soft voice reached my ears. "He's right, Alice. We don't know for certain that it wasn't her."

"Edward," I said, my voice softening, "I hate to have to remind you, but she's dead. I saw it happen."

"Your visions aren't always correct. The future can change." He replied, taking a couple steps toward us. This was the most he had said in a long time.

"She's dead, Edward," I shot back, a little harshly, "I saw her die. Her future is nothing but black to me now. There's nothing left for me to catch of her! Every time I try, I get the same blackness as I do for death!"

His eyes narrowed on me, no doubt searching through my mind. I had never told him that before, not wanting to have himself lose himself to despair again and seek death. We just recently lost one family member. I wasn't sure if we could handle losing another so soon. But there was no point in keeping it from him now.

After another minute of searching through my mind and my visions, he clenched his eyes shut, his face succumbing to pain and grief. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jasper flinch from what he was feeling from Edward. I placed a comforting hand on his arm.

"I'm so sorry Edward."

"Edward," Carlisle spoke up softly, "I know that this must be hard for you. She was your whole reason for existing. If you… if you wish to join her, all I ask is that you wait until the battle comes. Then you have my blessing to go as you wish."

Edward looked up at Carlisle. This was what he had been waiting for.

It was his blessing of death.

**...**

**Please review! I would like to cross the 100 mark with the next chapter! **


	10. Shorts

**So, finally, here's the next chapter that I spent all day working on instead of doing my 5 page science report thats due tomorrow. Oh, and I'll be going back and putting a month at the beginning of each chapter just so you guys have some since of how much time is passing between each chapter. **

**Nobody even tried to guess where they were last time! For any who cared to know, it was base off of Godric's Hallow in Harry Potter!**

_April_

B.P.O.V.

The black waves slammed into the rocky banks of the lake, the sound of them beating against the stone overpowering most other sounds. What sound the waves didn't hide, the screaming wind did. It sounded as though a pack of banshees had been let loose in the area. The wind picked up strands of my hair and threw against the sides of my face and the back of my head. The rest flew out in front of me in a frenzy. A storm was coming.

As I watched the dark lake in its attempt to destroy the shore, I almost felt pity for any boater out there this dangerous night. Surely the boat was being thrown around, any sails it having being close to getting ripped off. _Almost._ The lake may have been out for blood that night, but so was I. No amount of blood would satisfy us, though. It never would.

In a moment of quiet from both the wind and the waves, I heard the softest rustle of grass from behind me. I froze and listened, but didn't hear anything else from whatever it was. No breath, nor a heartbeat could be heard. It was as if whatever it was had disappeared.

But then the wind shifting, carrying the sweet, familiar scent of another immortal to my nostrils. I continued to watch the water for another couple of seconds before I spun around, stopping the other vampire in his tracks. We both stood where we were for a couple seconds.

"I see Riley's done a good job with your training," he said finally.

I nodded slightly. "Of course he has."

He continued to watch me for a couple more moments, the wind blowing bits of his dark hair around his face. Finally, a smile spread across his face and a matching one formed on mine. He opened his arms to me and I happily moved into them.

"You know, child," he said, "Riley was quite worried when you didn't show up after you finished hunting."

"You've already seen Riley?" I asked, pulling back a little.

Stefan nodded. "Vladimir's with him now. He asked me to come find you since he knew I'd find you much quicker than he would."

I gave a small smile at that. "Well, we best be returning then as not to worry them."

With that, we set off.

* * *

E.P.O.V.

"I find it amazing how many they have gotten who are willing to fight for them."

"It is a great amount," Carlisle said softly, looking over at me, "But not the greatest that it's been."

"It's not?" I asked as Carlisle chuckled softly at the expression on my face.

He took my hand as we started walking, still watching the group. "You have to remember that they haven't always had the twins to help them. I wasn't with the Volturi before the twins were made, but from what I have been told, the army they had in the early days of their reign was terrifying in size and power."

I raised my eyebrows. "If they were with the Volturi when you met them, then they're older than I thought."

"They're older than I am," Carlisle said as we left the crowded training room. "At least a hundred years older, probably more."

"What do you know about them?" I asked.

"Well, Aro himself changed them as they were on the brink of death," Carlisle started. "But when they were human, they were accused of being witches by their town. They were young, maybe fourteen or fifteen at the time. Aro could see that they had great potential but wanted to wait until they were older before changing them. However, the villagers decided that they weren't going to wait.

"They tried them for witchcraft and the twins were found guilty. They burned them at the stake for it."

"The burned them?" I gasped. "But they were just children!"

"Back then they weren't. Both of them would have been expected to marry soon. Surely some man was planning on marrying his daughter to Alec. Alec could have been laying on giving his sister away to somebody, although I couldn't imagine it what with how close they are. Moreover, you have to remember, Esme, that back then, if you were accused of some kind of devilry, age didn't matter. You would be put to death, although it wasn't always by the stake."

I nodded my head. "So… if they were burned, then how did Aro save them?"

"He pulled us from the stakes even as we burned and bit us. The venom, of course, healed our bodies and smooths the wounds that those animals gave to us. Then he, and the others with him, slaughtered everyone in the town. And now here we are and have been since."

We turned around to find Jane and Alec standing just behind us, their eyes bright from a recent kill. "And here we plan to stay, even when those less faithful leave."

"Or die," Alec added.

"Aro's looking for you," Jane said to Carlisle. We started to head off in the direction of Aro's office when Jane stopped us. "Just you, Carlisle."

Carlisle nodded and let go of my hand. He kissed my forehead before he left, Jane and Alec trailing after him. With a sigh, I turned to go return to the room Aro had given us.

* * *

T.P.O.V.

"Now Alice, will you please explain to us what is _actually _going on here?"

She sighed and moved back to Jasper's side as we pulled out of our hug. Her eyes lingered on me for a moment before moving to each other member of my 'family'. Finally, her eyes came to rest on me again.

I was starting to get worried. "Alice! What is it? What did you see?"

"I've seen too much, Tanya." she replied, leaning against Jasper. "All I ever see anymore is death and destruction."

As she closed her eyes and buried her face in her mate's side, Jasper spoke. "The Volturi is under attack and you have been asked to help us fight to defend them."

"By who?" I asked, surprised. I knew that we had been asked here to do something that could cost us our lives but I didn't think that it was this serious.

"The head of the attacking force is what remains of the Romanian Coven: two vampires named Stefan and Vladimir."

"The Romanian Coven?" asked Eleazar disbelievingly. "They were eliminated just before I joined the Volturi, by Jane and Alec themselves! It was mere luck that those two survived! How could they be considered a threat?"

We all startled at hearing Eleazar speak thusly. Alice turned her head and focused her eyes on him. "Well, they're clearly more of a threat than you give them credit for being. Although it's not so much as them that you should be worried about, but more of who's with them."

"And who's with them?" Kate asked softly.

Alice bit her lip. "That's just it. I don't know who they are. But they're dangerous. Very dangerous."

"Alice," Carmen practically whispered as she moved away from us and towards the couple. "This isn't the only thing that's bothering you, is it?"

Alice clenched her eyes shut, then covered them with her hand. "She's dead. I've seen it. As soon as this battle is over, Edward is going to be dead too. And there's nothing we can do to stop it."

"Are… are you sure?" I asked hesitantly.

"Of course I'm sure!" Alice snapped, pulling herself out of Jasper's embrace. "I saw her die and now there's nothing but black from her! And Carlisle's given Edward leave to kill himself 'so he doesn't have to suffer anymore'."

We all simply stood there as Jasper wrapped Alice in a comforting embrace. This was too much. It couldn't be real.

But it was.

* * *

F.P.O.V.

"Few of them seem to have any idea of what they're doing."

I turned my head slightly to look at Demetri. It was true; few of those who had come to fight with us had any _real_experience with fighting. The majority of them were young and inexperience or old, wonderers. Of those of the gathered who _did_ have real experience, half of them had worked with or for us at one point in time. The others had simply lived a rough life.

"That's because they've never ad a reason to." I replied, turning my attention back to the sparring vampires.

My job was to find those with a greater amount of skill than the others and give them a little more instruction on fighting. Then, they would help me to train the others. Already I had a handful picked out: Eleazar, an old guard member, a female named Cassidy who had been around since Aro's time, maybe even before, Garrett, a nomad from the time of the American Revolution, Jasper, one from Carlisle's lot who had seen his fair share of fighting in the vampire wars down south, and Peter, another war veteran like Jasper. All of them showed great skill and experience, along with having some valuable gifts.

"I don't see what the point in having them all is. Why not just let the twins have their fun with their prey?" Demetri questioned, even though he knew I didn't know the answer.

I sighed. "There's a reason behind it that they're not telling us. And I don't think that they will tell us, but rather let us go blindly into battle."

"Do they wish to hand us into the hands of death?" He asked just as another vampire slipped into the room and started towards us. "Do they not care if we die?"

"They don't. I thought you would have learned that by now, Demetri. As long as they get what they want, they don't care who gets killed, whether it be one of us or not."

Demetri had now noticed the visitor heading towards us. "They value our gifts so highly, and us personally so lowly."

"Now Demetri, you know that it not true," Eleazar said as he finally reached us. "You don't have to have something special to offer for Aro to hold you in his esteem: only yourself."

I watched with a smile as Demetri glared at Eleazar: he never was very fond of him. Eleazar simply smiled in return.

"It has been too long, my friend," I greeted him as I clapped a hand on his shoulder.

He returned the gesture. "Aye, it has Felix. Much has changed since we last happened upon each other. But come, we have no time to talk. There is work to be done."

And so there was.

* * *

E.P.O.V.

For the second time in my long life, I found my days blurring together, becoming pointless. Already I yearned for the battle to come so that my life could be over with. I was tired of this seemingly endless suffering.

Just a couple rooms down I could hear Carlisle telling Esme what it was that Aro wanted. He was telling her that I had spoken to Aro about letting one of his brutes fulfill their wishes and rip me to shreds. Both of their minds were already clouded with grief.

Emmett and Rosalie were off again, searching for any that we had skimmed over who might be willing to help our side. So, for once, their was nothing to hear from them.

Jasper was trying to calm Alice down in the lobby while also explaining to most of Tanya's coven what was going on. For the most part, their talk and thoughts lingered on me and my death wish. The only one of them who wasn't there, and therefore not discussing my self-destruction, was Eleazar, who was helping Felix to pick out any of the gathered fools who had a talent or worth. So far only a few had been found.

No matter how hard I tried to focus my thoughts on other things, the fight, my family, my friends, they always went back to _her._ Her scent, her eyes, her touch, the way she blushed, the endearing way she always put others first….

I just couldn't keep her off of my mind.

* * *

**So this chapter was a bit different from you guys were used to due to the fact that it's a whole bunch of shorts from different P.O.V.'s. I hoped you liked it though.  
Oh, and for those of you who couldn't figure it out, this is the order of whose POV it was: Bella, Esme, Tanya, Felix, and Edward.**

**Okay, so, you guys, due to all of the complaining and slandering of my reviewers that's been going on, the poll has been taken down. Since you guys couldn't be civil about it, and respect other people's opinions on the matter, I don't care what you think should happen to Bella. It's not up to you guys anymore. It's up to me. And I don't think you'll like it.**

**Please, review!**


	11. Attack

**I have a very good reason for disappearing for a month... I got sucked into another dimension and kept getting sent to other ones, trying to find one that my soul was compatible with! Finally, my best friend came and rescued me!  
Not believing it? Me either. **

_

* * *

_

_July_

"Try harder, Bella. I can still see her."

"What do you think I'm doing?" I snapped at Riley, pushing myself as hard as I could. "Does it seem like I'm having a tea party over here to you?"

Riley shot a glare at me while Melanie did her best to keep her tricks in his mind. "Just shut up and focus."

Melanie was one of the newborns put under Riley's charge to train, and was the only one he had under his control, other than myself, that had a power that was of any use to us. She was an illusionist of sorts; she could make you believe that you were feeling something, hearing something or seeing something, but not at the same time.

I said nothing, but simply growled in response, my anger rising. Suddenly, I became aware of something; it felt as though there was an elastic band around my mind. Closing my eyes, I focused on it, willing it outwards. I opened my eyes, and although I couldn't see it, I could tell where my shield was, slinking across the ground towards Riley. It reached his feet, then shot up his whole body, covering him with its protective embrace. His eyes cleared and he stumbled back, seeming a little surprised.

Riley looked over at me as Melanie's eyes narrowed on him. "Is that you, Bella?"

"Who else would it be?" I asked, not watching Riley but rather Melanie, who was shifting her position behind Riley's back.

"That was brilliant," he praised, seemingly oblivious to the young vampire behind him. "I'm so proud of you."

I didn't respond but rather smiled as Melanie shot at Riley, hoping to take him unawares. Just as she was about to reach him, he swung around, arm out. It caught her right in the chest and knocked her back and into a tree. Several small, white petals fell down from the blossoms in the trees and landed lightly in her dark hair. She glared at the two of us as Riley turned to face her and I smiled at her failed attempt.

"Next time you try that the results won't be so light. Now get up of the ground and head back to the group. The others should be returning soon." As she was picking herself up off the ground, Riley turned to me. "Bella, head back to the clearing with Melanie. I'll go get the others."

Despite my reluctance, I nodded my head and started back into the trees, heading for the old barn that the lot of us were currently residing in. Melanie fell in step behind me and I could just see her out of the corner of my eye. She was one of our newer vampires and I didn't trust her one bit. Already two others were dead because of her and she enjoyed screwing with people's mind by using her powers. When we were just a minute away from the old barn, I saw her turn out of the corner of my eyes. Right as she was about to hit me, I swung my arm out, catching her directly in the head. As she started to fall back from the impact, her teeth sank into my arm, pulling it with her. I threw my body down on top of hers so the force of her arm wouldn't rip my arm right out the socket.

I roared in pain as she bit down harder and swung my other fist into her face. Melanie let go with a cry, and just a short bit away I could the others from Stefan and Vladimir's groups coming to see what all the noise was about. From the direction that we had just come, I could hear Riley rushing to us, ahead of his group. I started in on tearing the young girl beneath me apart, to far gone to care what the repercussions would be.

"Bella!" Stefan cried upon seeing what I had done. By the time everyone had arrived I was sitting upon a pile of dissembled, quivering body parts, my hands sticky with venom. The wound on my arm was also oozing with venom and stung badly.

"I leave you two alone for all of a minute, trusting you to not act like a child, and you go and kill one of our own!" Riley shouted. I turned my cold eyes upon him. "Could you have done anything more stupid?"

I growled. "Keep this up and we'll see exactly how stupid I can get."

As I got up, Stefan walked over and grabbed me by my good arm, stopping me from going after Riley. "Child, come, let's return. We don't need any more trouble amongst ourselves. Riley, take care of this."

The surrounding bystanders cleared a path for the two of us as we passed, shooting looks at me in particular. Vladimir shook his head as we passed him, his long golden hair shimmering in the sun that had managed to get through the trees.

"I shouldn't even be here," I said angrily once we were almost back. We had left the cover of the trees and the sun glittered on our skin, sending out shimmering beams. "He never asked me if I wanted to go with him or if I wanted to stay with the Cullens. He just assumed that I would be okay with it and took me. I much rather that he hadn't and had just left me with them. I don't want to be here."

"Bella, they didn't care for you."

"I don't care! They at least acted as if they did. If you didn't know any better, you wouldn't be able to tell that he gives a damn about me!" I practically shouted.

"Child," Stefan started, "We care for you. _I_ care for you."

"Well, maybe that's just not enough for me."

A.P.O.V.

* * *

_Soft sunlight glittered down from between the branches of the trees, causing the gathered vampires below to sparkle. Most of them stood gathered in one large group, talking quietly amongst themselves about what had just taken place. Another vampire stood a little ways in front of them, standing in a spot where the sunlight easily broke through the leaves, causing him to sparkle brilliantly. The last vampire in the clearing was angrily staring at a pile of disassembled body parts that were twitching and oozing something white._

"_Annabelle, a fire," the one who was standing by the body parts said._

_A small, scared girl replied, "But… but Stefan told you to take care of it." _

"_Yeah," Riley snapped back, "And I'm telling _you _to take care of it."_

* * *

"That was… interesting," Aro said as I opened my eyes, meeting his. After another moment he added, "So this is the one who took your Bella away from you." It wasn't a question.

"What?" Emmett asked, looking up to where I stood next to Aro.

I sighed. "I… I finally got another glimpse of Stefan and Vladimir's plans, although Stefan wasn't there in my vision. Vladimir stood with a couple dozen others, watching something. But the center of focus was a dead vampire… and Riley."

"Anything else?" Carlisle asked from where he stood next to Marcus.

"No, just Riley yelling at a girl named Annabelle to take care of the body, which I guess Stefan had originally put him in charge of."

Emmett spoke again. "Anything at all about Bella?"

"Don't you think I would have said something by now if there had been?" I snapped, snatching my hand out of Aro's grasp.

Carlisle ignored my outburst. "At least we know how Stefan and Vladimir got hold of Bella now."

"Do you think that maybe Bella's still with them? I mean, if they changed her, she could helping them to build an army." Emmet asked slowly. I glared at him.

"No," I quickly snapped, "I would have seen that."

"But you haven't been seeing much of Stefan or Vladimir either! There are times when you look for them and get the same black that you get for her!"

"But I still get glimpses of them!" I argued, "I never see _anything_ for Bella. Not even a peep. And that's because there's nothing _to_ see."

His eyes narrowed. "You know Alice, I would almost say that it seems like you don't want Bella to be alive."

I growled, and crouched, ready to lung. But before I could even move an inch towards Emmett, Jasper had hold of me and I was melting into his embrace. "You know that's not true. Emmett." Jasper said and I could fell his chest rumble with his words.

"I never said it was." With that, he and Rosalie left the room.

"Shhh, Alice, it's okay. We know that what he said isn't true."

I shook my head against Jasper's chest, tears of venom fogging my vision. "That's just it, Jazz. I _don't_ want her to be alive because I know if I dare to hope and she isn't, it will only hurt more."

* * *

R.P.O.V.

I stood by a broken window in the old barn, leaning against the wall next to it. I was listening to Vladimir and Stefan talk, but my eyes were trained on the girl folded up in the corner of the room.

Bella had stayed sitting in the corner of the barn ever since Stefan had brought her back. She hadn't said a word and her eyes appeared to be glazed over. Nobody dared to approach her.

"As we talked, "Vladimir said.

"We came to a decision." Stefan finished.

They both smiled and said at the same time, "It's time we attacked."

* * *

**Sorry 'bout the length. But hey! Fight's up next! The Cullens and Bella will finally be in the same area again!**


	12. Loss

**Alright, so I guess I deserved that from you guys. But hey, I'm back after only 8 days!  
This is the chapter that started the whole story! I've been dying to write this. **

* * *

B.P.O.V.

"We'll move by night, where we're safe under cover of dark."

Stefan finished for Vladimir with, "And during the day, we'll feed, plan, and train."

"So… we'll be in Volterra by the end of the week?" Riley asked, his eyes flicking over once to me.

Vladimir smiled. "Before. We can travel faster than you think."

* * *

E.P.O.V.

As Alice's eyes clouded over, pulling her mind into a vision, what color there was to her face seemed to be washed away. Before I could even delve into her mind, she returned to us and spoke one simple line.

"They're coming."

* * *

B.P.O.V.

"There's so many of them," somebody said quietly from behind us. Neither Stefan nor Vladimir turned around.

"More isn't always better." Vladimir replied, a smile gracing his features.

We stood up upon a hill, hidden from their eyes by the trees that surrounded us. The setting sun made their skin glitter as if it was made of a thousand diamonds. My eyes raked over those who I could see. But none of the faces were familiar to me. They put the strangers out front to die for them.

I turned my head to find a pair of bright red eyes watching me. Riley regarded me from the other side of Stefan and Vladimir, his eyes mournful, as if he had already lost me. He probably felt that way too, due to the fact that I hadn't spoken to him since our fight. I held my hand out to him and he crossed over to me behind the two Romanian vampires and took my hand. "Don't leave me."

"I won't," He promised, knowing what I meant. "I'll find you as soon as it's over."

Stefan looked back over his shoulder at me. "Cover us, Bella."

I nodded my head and focused on the small band that covered my mind. I pushed it out and let it seep out from me and over all the others in our group. Once they were all in its protective cover, I tightened it, making sure that nobody else could get in. I then pushed the thought of it to the back of my mind; I couldn't have it taking up all of my focus as I fought.

"And now we descend upon them," Vladimir said.

Stefan let a cruel smile spread across his face as he spoke. "Like a pack of wolves upon a deer."

* * *

E.P.O.V.

The first couple of them stepped out from where they hid in the trees. From where I stood in the back with my family and the trio, their faces were unfamiliar to me, and their minds hidden. They stood just in front of the trees, watching. From Aro and Carlisle's thoughts next to me. I knew that these were old vampires, two of them the leaders of the opposing force: Stefan and Vladimir, the Romanians.

More started to come out of the trees behind them and make their way down the hill towards us. The front of our forces ran out to meet them. Next to me, Jasper and Emmett were itching to get out there and fight. We didn't come here just to stand around and watch, after all.

As we watched, two vampires made their down the hill from where they had been standing with the older vampires. They held hands as they ran. One was a pretty brunette, but my eyes weren't on her. My eyes were on the tall male who held her hand.

With a growl, I set off after the one who took my Bella from me.

* * *

B.P.O.V.

Riley and I stood at the top of the hill with some of the older vampires as out army stormed down the hill and met the Volturi's forces in battle. After a minute of watching them, however, we decided to join them.

We ran down the hill, hand in hand. Once we reached the bottom, however, we had to let go of each other to fight. We stayed close together, though, as we fought. He easily threw down the girl he was fighting, but I was having more problems with my foe. He was a big, dark vampire with eyes almost as bright as mine. Eventually I managed to throw him down and disassemble him. I had no matches with me to light him, though, and despite the fact that several fires had already sprung up around the edge, I left the twitching body parts on the ground. More came at us; just asking for their life's to become ours.

After I had managed to throw down a couple vampires, I turned, hoping find Riley. At first, I couldn't spot him, but finally my eyes found him, locked in a fight with a tall, copper haired vampire. They moved too fast for me to properly see Riley's assailant, but the sight of him tugged at something in my memory. Riley seemed to be struggling under the copper haired vampire's ruthless attacks. In fact, the other vampire seemed to fight as though Riley took away everything he knew.

_Maybe he did,_ My mind whispered. _After all, he took everything you knew away._

As I watched, Riley stumbled and for the briefest of seconds, his defenses fell. I started to stumble towards them, hoping to help in some way, even though I would most likely just end up getting myself killed. Riley's fault was long enough for the other vampire and he descended upon Riley. By the time I managed to get past the fighting vampires between us, there was no sign of Riley and the other vampire was disappearing into the crowd.

I let out a cry at the loss of Riley and threw myself into the battle with even more passion than before, my anger and grief driving me. As I fought, I vowed to myself that I would find the one who had seemingly lost everything and show him what it really meant to lose.

All around me, vampires fought. Foes and friends fell. Twitching body parts and cries of pain or loss, and the metallic screeches of ripping flesh filled the air. Injured vampires who had apparently deemed themselves too hurt to fight anymore picked up the parts that littered the ground and threw them into one of the many burning flames. Every now and then one of them would be taken down, having been deemed an easy target. The sun was gone, the only light being from the fires. As I cast my eyes around, I spotted Stefan and Vladimir still standing upon the hill, watching the battle. I wondered how long they had been there and how long the battle had been going on.

I started up towards them, none even attempting to stop me as I left the battlefield. I reached the top of the hill where they stood and turned to stand at an angle to them so that my back wasn't completely facing the field where a foe might try to sneak up on me.

"Are you injured?" Stefan asked, looking me over. I knew I must have been a mess. I could feel the venom of my felled foes clinging to my skin.

I shook my head. "Not physically."

"Young one, where's Riley?" Stefan asked me. "We didn't expect to see you two apart."

"He fell not long into battle."

Surprise spread across both of their faces, even Vladimir's usually emotionless face.

"Do you know who it was?" Vladimir asked me.

I shook my head again. "No, I never got a good look at him. However, he had copper hair and was somewhat familiar to me. If I saw him, I would know him."

They turned to face each other and spoke lowly and quickly. I only caught part of what they were saying.

"… shouldn't deny her this chance. She needs revenge as much as us." "And he'll be with his family, who are with _them."_

I stood, waiting for them to finish as their words trailed off again so that I couldn't hear them. Finally they turned back to face me.

"We've decided that it's time for us to enter the battle. But we're not going to waste our time on those weaklings." Stefan started.

Vladimir finished the idea for him. "Isabella, we need you to get us through to the trio on the other side."

"Why?" I asked, suspicious. "Surly you don't need me for that. You could just walk right through."

"That isn't our problem, young one," Stefan said. "Our problem is who will be waiting with the three."

My suspicion rose even more. "Who is it?"

Vladimir and Stefan glanced at each other. "The Cullens."

If my heart had been beating then, it would have stopped. _The Cullens,_ the ones who left me, broke me. The ones who toyed with me, and lied to me. They were here and Vladimir and Stefan needed me to handle them while they dealt with the Volturi.

As I thought about it, I realized whom it was that had taken Riley from me. "I'll do it."

"We don't expect you to kill them," Vladimir told me. "Only distract them."

Stefan smiled. "Of course, you're welcome to kill them if you wish, even if it means getting rid of our old friend Carlisle."

I simply nodded, and they started down the hill.

My assumptions were correct: nobody paid us any heed as we crossed the field. Several battles were still going on, but more than half of both sides were gone and it was clear that this would continue either until a leader had fallen or once side was completely decimated.

We easily reached the other side and stopped several yards away from where the trio and some others stood. Sure enough, the Cullens stood with the three, observing the fight and commenting on it. Some of the boys had telltale signs of fighting on them, others probably hadn't even bothered to get involved. There was no other guard around them.

"Wait here," I said to my Romanian friends, laying a hand on each of their arms.

As I took a step towards the group, the two behind me melting back, out of way of the light of the large fire dancing nearby. The group had not noticed me yet. I stood there watching them for a moment. I could remember all of them now; Emmett and his terribly beautiful Rosalie, Jasper, the southern gentleman and his little Alice, ever compassionate Carlisle and dear Esme, and Edward, the one seemed as though he lost everything. There was a pain in my chest from just the sight of them.

Finally, I managed to tear myself away from the sigh of them and move into action. I needed to get all of their attention and get them away from Aro, Marius, and Caius. Going after one 0f the stronger ones like Emmett or Jasper wouldn't work. And I didn't think that going for their leader right off the bat was a good idea either. Finally, I decided on what to do. I only had to hope that they actually held something inside of them for me.

I made the choice quickly, and there she didn't have time to see it coming. None of them had noticed me watching them and were therefore caught off guard when I struck, moving and grabbing one of their own. Before they could react, Alice was in my grasp, several yards away. One arm was tightly wrapped around her neck so that she couldn't turn her head to see who held her, the other wrapped around her upper arms and midriff, preventing most movement. I held her so that her feet barely touched the ground. Her hands gripped at the arm that held tight to her neck. All eyes were on the two of us.

"You really don't pay much attention to those that you claim to hold dear, do you?" I mockingly asked. "I mean just a couple seconds ago, she was standing among you guys and now here she is in my grasp. And then there was a year ago, when I was just carried away. But then again, I guess that doesn't really count since you never really care, does it?"

"What are you talking about?" Carlisle asked, him and Esme taking a step towards us and Jasper growled, "Let her go."

Smirked at them. "I should have known that you wouldn't remember me," I said, despite the fact that Alice's head was hiding at least half of my face from their view.

"I said let her go," Jasper growled again, inching closer to me, his body in a crouch. My plan was working; their attention was on me.

"Fine, I'll let her go." I threw Alice with all of my strength behind me and into a tall tree. I was watching her, but I heard her slam into it with a sickening 'crunch'.

Jasper moved past me to Alice, either leaving me for them or for himself once he had made sure Alice was okay. With Alice out of the way, they could get a proper look at me. Their eyes raked over me, from my dirty red converses to my black shorts and white tank top to my long, brown locks. To say they were surprised would have been an understatement.

"Bella?" Edward asked with a shaking voice.

I turned cold eyes on him. "Didn't think you'd be seeing me again, did you?"

Before he could answer, Jasper moved from behind me. Esme shouted, "Jasper, don't!" but it was too late to stop him.

I swung around and met him in the middle of his attack. My hands met his so to stop them from reaching my neck and the force of his lung sent us tumbling to the ground. We rolled a couple times and when we stopped, he was on top, pinning me to the ground. My hands were help above my head by both of his and his knees were on either side of me, making sure I couldn't get up.

"Jasper, stop, it's Bella!" One of the girls called. I wasn't sure which one it was though.

"I don't give a damn who it is," Jasper snarled in response, his hot breath hitting my face.

Despite the position I was in, I smiled at him. "Actually gonna kill me this time, Jasper?"

He didn't say anything but growled again in response. As he growled, I brought my knee up into the small space between us and rammed it up into his gut. Having been caught by surprise, he loosened his grip on my hands. I brought my other leg up between us in the newly created space and this time rammed both of my feet into his gut as a yanked my hands down and out of his grasp. He rolled one way, off me, as I rolled the other and up onto my feet. As he moved to come at me again, Emmett moved up behind him and restrained him.

A couple feet behind the Cullens, Vladimir and Stefan approached the now unprotected trio. I smiled, for it seemed that our plan would work. However, as they got close, Aro looked our way and in turn, Edward looked at them, no doubt hearing something in Aro's thoughts to get his attention. Seeing Edward's alarm, they all turned, even Alice and Jasper, spotting the two vampires approaching their friends.

"Stop them!" Alice cried. "We can't let this end like my vision."

I didn't know what her vision was, but from her worry and the tone of her voice, I knew that it had to have involved a victory for my side. In a state a panic, I moved without really thinking. I had to get their attention back on me.

My arms looped around a pair of stronger arms and I pulled Carlisle back, not bothering to hold him as I did Alice for I knew he wouldn't fight against me. "Move and I'll kill him."

Everyone, even Stefan and Vladimir, stopped at my words. All of their eyes were once again on me. The panic in Esme's eyes was clear.

"Bella, don't," Alice pleaded softly. "We've been nothing but a family to you, especially Carlisle. You know that you don't want to do this."

"Lies!" I yelled, my voice shaking a bit. Her words hit home a little inside of me. "You were _never_ a family to me! You've done nothing but toy with me and hurt me!"

She tried again. "Bella, this isn't you."

I shook my head. "You don't know me. You don't know _anything_ about me."

"We used to know you, Bella," Edward said softly. I turned my face away from him, letting my eyes gaze into the leaping flames that stood just a foot away from me. "_I_ knew you. And you knew me."

"I _thought_ that I knew you." I corrected him.

"You knew me, Bells. You knew, you _know_ that I love you, that I always have." I shook my head at his words and at the conflicting thoughts they created in my head. I eventually turned my eyes back to him. "The Bella I know would never kill somebody."

"Yeah," I said, my mouth tightening almost as if in disgust. "Well, watch me."

I threw myself to the left into the leaping flames that stood there, crashing into the woods. I held Carlisle tightly below me and clenched my eyes shut as the flames danced over us.

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**:D :D :D  
Let the hateful reviews come!**


	13. Trials

***confetti confetti* I've reached 100 reviews on this story! Wooo! Big thanks to all those who've reviewed so far and to ****Bella2317743 for giving me my 100th review!**

**So, quite a few people were angry with me for that last chapter, especially those who are aware of my love for killing off characters. :D Just read on ;)**

Slowly, the world started to fade back in to me.

The first thing I was aware of was the pain; before I could see anything, hear anything, even smell anything, I felt a burning pain throughout most of my body. It laced through my arms, the front of my torso, my legs and even part of my face. It reminded me of the pains of transforming, only not as great. Nevertheless, it still hurt like hell.

I open my eyes gingerly, for the side of my face around one of my eyes was one part that burned. My eyes instantly adjusted to the dark and I wearily looked around the dank little cell that I was in. The walls were dark and smooth, not a single bump or crack on them. On the wall to my right, there was a door made of the same material, lined with metal around the edges. I could tell just by looking that I wouldn't be able to get out.

As my thoughts slowly cleared, I realized that I wasn't dead. _I wasn't dead!_ The flames hadn't consumed my body and completely destroyed it. Somebody must have pulled me out.

For the first time, I looked down at my body. The simple movement of moving my neck sent pain through my body. I bit my lip, however, holding the pain back, and looked at what damage there was to my body without uncurling it.

Most of my thighs were pink, and looked as though they were crusted over with dried venom. I couldn't see what damage was hidden under it, but something gave me the impression that seeing it would only make it worse. The only part of my lower legs I could see without moving too much was my right calf and it was in the same condition as my thighs. The thin white camisole I had on was burnt and barely there, revealing some wounds on my chest and stomach that hurt, but weren't nearly as bad as the ones on my legs. My arms were the worst of all. They were almost completely caked in hard, white venom and burned at even the slightest twitch. I couldn't see my neck or face but I knew that they too were in a bad condition. Even my hair hadn't escaped unscathed; along with the smell of mildew, burnt hair was the most prominent smell in the small cell.

Suddenly, without warning, the door swung inward, letting in a stream of light. Two figures I knew the instant my eyes were laid on them were roughly shoved in and then the door was pulled shut with a bang. The two vampires didn't even seem to notice me in the now crowded cell. They simply stood there, talking quietly, but angrily, between themselves.

"… an outrage how he treated us, truly. No respect for anything or anyone."

"He didn't even care for those who died. The only person he actually seemed to have seen survive was his dear old friend…"

As Vladimir shook his head, he seemed to have caught a glimpse of me curled up in the corner, watching them. He froze for a second, seeming surprised. "Bella!" He finally said.

Stefan's head snapped around, his eyes focusing on me. He took a couple steps closer to me. "My dear young one! We thought you had perished in the fire! What a surprise it is to see you here and alive."

I didn't say anything in response, but rather narrowed my eyes at him, something about his words and the manner in which he delivered them seeming off. Something wasn't right here.

After a minute, Stefan seemed to realize that I wasn't going to say anything in response to what he said. His eyes flicked over to Vladimir then back to me. He took another step closer and my eyes narrowed even more. "Isabella, that half-wit will be back soon, for you. He's going to take you to see Aro, just as he did for us. You can't tell him anything, show him anything. Whatever he learns from you will seal _all _of our fates."

"And remember this, young Isabella," Vladimir said menacingly, his black eyes leering into mine, "If we go down, you're going with us."

At that moment, just as they had predicted, the door swung open. The two Romanians jumped back into the other corner behind the door, out of sight. A large, olive skinned vampire with long tightly curled black hair stepped in and looked at me. "You, come."

I started at him for a moment, wondering if I even had the strength to stand. "Will your injuries allow you to stand?" The vampire asked, seemingly reading my mind. I nodded my head, although I wasn't quite sure what exactly I was confirming. Before he could move any closer to me, however, I put my hands on the ground on either side of me and shoved myself up without hesitating. Pain laced through my body, but I didn't stumble or even falter. I hid it well for I didn't need another person to think of me as being weak.

The unfamiliar vampire nodded and started out of the room ahead of me. As we left, I heard Stefan whisper from behind, "Remember what we told you Bella…"

The walk to the throne room was quiet and painful on my side. We went slowly, for I was unable to go much faster than a human would with my injuries. Finally, though, after several long minutes, we made it. The vampire pulled the large door open and gestured for me to enter. I walked in with my head held high and my shoulders back, my shoes making no noise as I entered the room full of vampires who held my fate in their hands.

The door shut almost silently behind me, but I didn't look back. Four vampires sat in thrones at the front of the room. Only about nine others were in the room and of them, six were guards; the other three were the wives of those sitting in the thrones.

As I made my way to the steps leading up to the dais upon which the thrones were sitting, my sluggish mind registered something it should have the moment I walked in the room; there were _four _thrones, not _three_. The trio sat in the first three seats to my left with their wives standing behind them. In the last seat, with Esme standing protectively besides him, was Carlisle.

"Ah, young Isabella, we were beginning to wonder if your injuries would ever allow you to awaken," Aro stated, standing and taking a step towards me. "You've brought injuries most severe upon yourself… and others."

His eyes flicked over to where Carlisle sat, watching. My eyes followed and roamed over the vampire who used to seem as a father figure to me. Part of his face was already scarring, clearly healing faster than my injuries had. Despite the fact that he had a sweater on, the way he had his arm leaning upon the chair with his hand near his face revealed a bandage on his arm. The way he was sitting also told me that there were more injuries hidden from view. He seemed to be in a better state than I was, however.

"Do you regret it?"

Aro's question drew my eyes back to where he stood with his hands clasped behind his back. Did I regret what I did? I thought of the Cullens and all they did for me. I thought them leaving me without a goodbye, Edward just leaving me in the woods to die, and then coming back out of guilt. I thought of the two who awaited me back in the cell. They changed me and taught me how to fight. They used me and threatened me. Did I regret it?

"No," I answered quietly, my eyes staying locked on my questioners. "I don't regret it at all."

Aro couldn't help but let his surprise show: he clearly had been expecting a different answer than what I had given him. "Do you regret anything you've done at all?"

"Of course," I answered. Aro waited for me to elaborate, so I added, "I regret giving my heart away so easily to somebody who didn't even want it."

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Esme and Carlisle shift a little uneasily.

"That is not what I meant," Aro told me, a little annoyed. "Do you regret working with Stefan and Vladimir at all? And think carefully about your answer."

"I regret some of the things I did while with them."

Aro smiled at me and took another step closer. "See, it's not that hard to cooperate, now is it?"

"If I were in a better state," I told them, "It would be much harder to get me to agree. I'm not afraid of death."

He chuckled lightly at what I said. "Dear, if you weren't afraid of death, you would still be speaking recklessly. Although I daresay, I would believe you if you said you weren't afraid to die for someone. You've already proved that." Again, his eyes flicked to Carlisle. But this time, my eyes remained on the one in front of me.

"You say that if I'm not afraid of death then I would be behaving and speaking recklessly. That is not true. If I had not thrown myself into the fire, I would never have realized that I was being deceived and lied to. I would have died if those who I thought cared for me also died. But I've realized that nobody cares anymore so I cooperate not out of a fear of death but out of a hope that I can drag those down with me who do fear death."

"If you wish for the Romanians to die, then why do you not regret ever having worked with them?" Aro inquired.

I sighed and shifted my weight, my body hurting. "They changed me; Stefan brought me into this life, for which I am thankful. I don't think my only faithful companion would have even have found the strength to have changed me by now. No doubt we would have been caught, even if he had. I already had one close call when the Cullen's Jasper almost caught me. "

"But surely if your 'companion' hadn't changed you then you just could have found somebody else to do it for you," Aro was trying to get into my head. He offered me a sly smile. "_I_ would have done it for you."

"Us come here and risk having you trap us here? Or have the Cullens be here or you alert them to us? I think not."

"Why do you fight against us so, Bella?" A different, soft voice asked of me. I clenched my eyes shut. "I knew you were angry with us for leaving you but I thought we had gotten over it. So why do you fight against us so?"

I reopened my eyes and balled my hands in fists, my nails digging into my already injured palms. "You didn't _come back._ I went and saved your _son's_sorry ass!" I ground out to Carlisle as I swung around to face him. "You all lied and deceived me worse than those two old snakes did! _I trusted you! _I loved you as a family! I wanted to be one of your family! But now I know why you fought against it so hard- you didn't want me around forever. And now you won't have to worry about. You can drop your act because I'm not buying it anymore."

"Bella-"

"No! I don't want to hear it!" Tears of venom that would never fall had welled up in my eyes and I turned away from the two Cullens angrily. My anger and pain overwhelming me, I fell to the ground.

"Isabella," Aro's soft voice broke through, drawing my attention. "You now have a choice before you: death or imprisonment."

I opened weary eyes and looked up at him. He had moved down from the dais and was standing next to me. He reached out and gently set his hand on my poorly healing shoulder. "You are a special case and therefore you do not have to make your choice now."

Realizing that I had lost all hope of freedom, I knew that I had nothing to lose from telling Aro everything. Just as he was about to pull his hand away from me, I let my shield drop completely, leaving me feeling naked and exposed. He stiffened as I let my head droop. After a minute, he pulled his hand away and my shield snapped back up around me.

"Thanks you, Isabella. Everything certainly makes more sense now," Aro said quietly to me before addressing the rest of the room. "Santiago, go fetch the prisoners. Carlisle, Esme, if would let your children know that the trials are over and that they may return to see the fate of those who were found guilty."

I stayed where I was on the ground as three sets of footsteps left the room. Not even a minute later, several pairs of feet entered the room, signaling the arrival of all of the Cullens. I could feel their eyes on me where I sat hunched on the floor but ignored them and their whispers. Just a couple seconds later, Santiago returned with the Romanians.

"What have you done, you insolent little child! No doubt you've gone and doomed us all!" Stefan yelled angrily as he entered the room and laid eyes on me.

I raised my head to glare at him. "I did nothing but tell the truth for I had nothing to lose from it."

"You have nothing to lose?" Stefan practically shrieked in his rage. "You're going to lose your life!"

"My life means nothing to me anymore."

Aro walked over to me and again gently placed his hand on my shoulder. "Rise, child. I have a job I would ask of you."

He led me over to the dais upon which the others stood and took me up two steps. Stefan and Vladimir were then brought before us, each of them restrained by a guard. As they were brought before us and forced down on their knees, I understood what it was Aro would have me do. I looked over to him.

"They have been your burden for some time. I find it only proper that you be the one to end this burden." Aro said with a smile before turning and walking up the rest of the steps.

A smirk spreading across my face, I turned back to the two fearful vampires in front of me. For once, they were at my mercy. I moved over so that I stood directly in front of Vladimir and placed my hands on either side of his face. Swiftly and smoothly, I twisted his head off, letting it fall to the ground. The guard released his body and let it fall to the ground. Then I moved over to Stefan, who was being restrained by the large vampire Santiago and was currently looking at the twitching form of his friend who I had just killed. He turned his eyes back to me and started begging incoherently for his life. I simply smirked at him and placed one hand on his shoulder and the other grabbed a fistful of his hair. With a pull, his head slowly pealed away from his body. I let the head fall to the ground and the guards descended upon the bodies, finishing the job. I took a step back.

I was finally free of them.

**That was the result of sitting down in front of the computer in my pajamas with hot chocolate on a snowy day. Hope you liked it!**

**Please, review!**


	14. Healing

**Happy late Christmahannukwanzadan everybody! And while we're at it, Happy New Year!  
Don't ask what I was smoking while I wrote this 'cause I wasn't smoking. Bella on the other hand...**

**Grr... mother fucking thing(pardon me) keeps taking all my spaces and quotation marks out. So it comes up without them, or doubled, I'm sorry. The site's being an ass.**

* * *

"Come Bella, let's go get you cleaned up and have Carlisle dress your wounds."

Aro's words drew me out of my thoughts and I turned to look at him. "Dress my wounds?" I asked confused.

"Your wounds are perfectly capable of healing by themselves," Aro explained, "But wrapping and dressing them will help them to heal faster. The wrappings will put pressure on them which will relieve some of the pain, and also keep dirt and other things out of it, so it will heal faster."

I nodded my head. Aro spoke again. "Santiago, show her to a room where she can get cleaned up and bring her something to put on afterwords."

The large vampire Santiago that had shown me into the room before came forward and stopped at the bottom of the steps. He gave me a smile and I walked down the remaining steps and let him lead me out of the room.

* * *

Never did I think that a hot bath would feel so good. The water washed away all of the mud that clung to me and the venom coating my wounds. With all that gone, however, I realized just how badly I had managed to hurt myself. To distract myself from the injuries, I set in on the hopeless task of cleaning my burnt, snarled hair.

After giving up on my hair, I got out, dried off, and pulled on the small black shorts and camisole that were left out for me, pulling a thin, white sweater on over it that hung down past the edge of the shorts. Not even wanting to attempt to brush my hair, I simply grabbed one of the hair ties off the counter and wrangled my hair back into a messy bun near the top of my head. Then, with a deep breath, I pushed the bathroom door open and moved into the connected room.

Carlisle stood on the opposite side of the room, hands clasped behind his back. When he heard me enter the room, however, he turned around, eyes meeting mine. There was no recognition in them, no familiar warmth. The look he gave me was distant as if I were a total stranger; somebody he had never even laid eyes on before. It hurt. Not wanting to seem weak, however, I held my head high and leveled his gaze with a cold one of my own.

I crossed the room so that I stood just a couple feet away from him. "Sit down," He quietly said, gesturing to the couch we stood next to. I gingerly sat down, mindful of the ache in my legs that was starting to make itself known again.

"Let me see your legs first," He murmured quietly, bending down in front of me with a bag I hadn't noticed before open besides him. He reached out and carefully took my calf in his hand after I didn't say anything. Gently, he ran his hands over it, causing me the least amount of pain that he could. No matter how mad he was, I knew Carlisle would never purposely inflect pain on somebody unless he absolutly had to.

After carefully looking over the rest of my leg and my other leg, he pulled some kind of ointment out of his bag and spread it over my burns. It didn't hurt; rather it was cooling and nice. He then wrapped my legs up lightly in gauze and stood up. "You'll have to take your sweater off so that I can see your arms."

I didn't say anything in response but leantforward a little and pulled the sweater off over my head, hissing lightly when it rubbed against a sore spot on my shoulder. Carlisle looked a little concerned at my hiss but hid it before it was there for even a second. I set the sweater down on the arm of the couch next to me and he moved up onto the couch next to me, taking my left arm in his hands, looking first at my shoulder that had made me hiss in pain.

"You know," Carlisle started softly without looking up. If we weren't the only ones in the room, I wouldn't have believed it was he who had spoken. "If you hadn't done what you did, there is a good chance that you would have won."

I looked up, surprised, at him. "Why do you say that?"

"When you pulled us into the fire," He answered, his voice not the least bit bitter. "Your shield fell, allowing us to use our powers against them. The idea of them being exposed if something happened to you clearly never crossed their minds."

"No, it did. They just hoped that when it did happen, it would be by one of your family's hands and after they had dealt with the three. Vladimir and Stefan didn't expect Riley and me to survive the battle."

At my words, Carlisle became the surprised one and looked up as he finished wrapping up my forearm. He said, as he moved over to my other arm, which wasn't nearly as bad as its mate, "We never saw him."

"He was killed early on." I hesitated before adding, "Edward did it."

Carlisle didn't say anything in response to my words, but pursed his lips and set to work on my arm. After he finished that, he looked over my stomach and back, then turned his attentions to my face. Gently, he ran his fingers down the left side of my face, earning a hiss when it touched a sensitive spot. he mumbled, but he didn't pull his hand away. He continued on, lightly running his fingers over the contours of my face. Once he was done with that, he moved on to my neck and the back of it. After doing that for not even a minute, he reached back into his bag, pulling the ointment he had used before on my other more serious burns.

"I don't think you're going to want a big bandage down the side of your face, impairing your vision," Carlisle said as he put the cold paste on my face.

I softly sighed. "It doesn't matter anyways. I won't need to see, no matter what happens to me, whether it is death, or imprisonment."

Finished with my check-up, Carlisle pulled his hands away and started to pack his stuff up. When he was done, he crouched on the floor in front of me, leaning back on his heels. "You speak as though you don't know what will happen to you. Have you not given Aro your decision yet?"

"He saw what I picked. There is no need to verbally clarify it."

"Oh, Bella," Carlisle said sadly, figuring out what I had decided from my tone of voice. "There is still time to change your mind."

I turned my face away from and said rather stiffly, "I don't wish to spend eternity locked up like a caged animal. At least with death there is a chance of freedom."

"Maybe I could talk to Aro. He might listen to me if-"

"No!" I cut him off and swung my head around to glare at him. "I don't need your help."

Boldly, Carlisle reached out and placed his hand on my arm in an attempt to calm me. Before he could even speak any 'soothing' words, I jerked back and swung my other arm out, my nails digging into his flesh as they flashed across his cheek. He fell back, surprised, and I jumped to my feet. "I don't need you and your family _acting _like they care for me! I don't even know why Aro had you patch me up if he's just going to kill me in a day!"

"He didn't ask me to do this, Bella," Carlisle quietly said from where he was on the ground. "I asked him to let me treat you."

I could hear somebody heading down the hall, no doubt attracted my all the noise I was making. I quickly grabbed my sweater and pulled it back over my head as I spoke. "I don't need you and your family _pretending_ like you care. It's only a waste of your time and energy."

"It's not an act Bella."

The door burst open, and the large Santiago stood in its frame, taking everything in from where I stood with my ratty hair coming down to where Carlislelay on the floor, fresh venom already drying on his cheek. I growled as Santiago wrapped his strong hands around my arm and pulled me from the room.

Santiago led me through different hallways than we had gone through before but the end place was the same: the cell. He threw me in there without a word and slammed the door. I stumbled against the back wall and glared at the shut my door, my anger not completely gone. With a loud huff, I slid to the ground, deciding not to breathe after that due to how rank the air was. In an effort not only to untangle my hair but also to release some of my anger, I started pulling my fingers through the knot on the back of my head. Clumps and clumps of burned hair and venom came out, filling my hands. I simply let it fall to the floor next to me before moving my hands up to rake through my slightly damp hair again. After working on it for a good half an hour, my hair was clump free, although I wished that I had a brush to be able to get any loose strands or clumps of left over venom still clinging to my roots. However, it was not so and I would have to make do with what I got.

I pulled my hair over one shoulder and my fingers quickly and easily made a long, tight braid out of it, which I then coiled at the back of my head and held in place with the hair tie that I had managed to free from my hair. I hit the bun a couple times with the palm of my hand to make sure it wouldn't come down and shook my head, snorting angrily, but doing nothing about it, when a few strands fell down around my face. With a sigh, forgetting about the foul air until I breathed in again, I laid down on the dirty floor of the cell, not caring if the white sweater I wore would get dirty or not. It wasn't mine anyways.

I don't know how long I laid there on the floor of the cell; there was no way for me to tell time, not even a bit of light, although I could see perfectly fine. At some point, I became aware of the fact that there was a big, thin daddy long leg spider in a corner, sharing the cell with me. I rolled over onto my stomach, and put my chin on one hand that was pressed flat against the ground, palm down. With my other hand, I reached out towards the spider, testing to see if it would come to me on its own. Of course it didn't. It scurried away from me as fast as it could, heading towards another corner. My hand shot out, blocking its path. Before it had realized it, it was on my hand, being brought towards my face. I cupped my other hand over the spider so it couldn't escape. For a while, it scurried about my hands desperately trying to find a way out, but in the end, it either gave up or had decided that I wasn't going to kill it. Maybe it was a little of both.

Opening my hand a little, I peered inside to find the spider calmly sitting in the middle of my palm. I pulled the top hand away and smiled when he didn't try to scurry away. Setting my other hand back under my chin, I observed the spider. It truly was interesting to see the spider up close, with all the details I couldn't even dream of spotting before. For the longest time, I laid there and watched him. After some time he deemed it safe enough to move and started up my wrist and over the sleeve of my sweater. I was content just to watch him as he journeyed. The movement of his little legs and joints was so intriguing.

Without warning, the door slammed open, causing me to jump up so that I was sitting on my knees, sending my little friend flying off my shoulder. I caught him in my hand and cupped the other over it. I glared at Santiago who was standing in the door with a big grin on his face. Arowishes to speak to you about your actions earlier and about your decision.

I rolled my eyes and grumbled, "Of course he does."

I got to my feet and headed out of the room. As Santiago was shutting the thick door, a thought occurred to me and I gently set the spider that I had lovingly named Cannibal on the ground. It took a little prodding, but he eventually scurried off my hand and to the edge where the wall meets the floor. Cannibal deserved a chance at freedom just as much as everyone else did.

"What _are_ you doing?" Santiago questioned when he turned around to see me still crouched on the floor, watching the spider.

"Nothing," I said quietly, getting up. "Just saying goodbye to a friend."

* * *

**Cannibal was inspired by one of twelve spiders that shared my tent with me when I went camping with my family and a friend a year ago. We named all of them, but the only two we ever knew for sure were Eeuvwlen(don't ask about the name), who was _always_ on my air mattress, even with I slept and who also came home with me, and Canniblette, who was a giant red daddy long leg we called Cannible at first, but decided was a female after she killed one of the while they were mating( at least thats what we think happened...).**

****IMPORTANT**  
I know you guys hate to hear this as much as I hate to say it, but I'm not going to be able to update for anywhere between one to three months. I have three Science Fairs, at least, coming up, along with a Romeo and Juliet project, exams, solo ensembles for band, a new schedule(Culinary Arts, urgh) and a whole bunch of other crap coming up and I won't hav much time to write. I'll try to update ASAP but no promises when that'll be. But I will be back- eventually.**

**So, please review!**


	15. Talking

**Well, I'm back. The only reason this is up today, though, is because we got 5 inches of snow and school was canceled. But I should be back to updating regularly now.**

**Holy crap, when I loaded this onto the sight, intending to post it, it was only 1500 words. But then I realized that where I left off and where I intend to pick it up next chapter, while it would have worked, left out something that I wanted to include. So I sat here and put that part in. Now its 3000 words.**

**xoxo**

**Carlisle's Point of View**

Upon seeing the scratch that Bella left on my face, my family, with the exception of Edward, flew into an uproar**. **Without me even having to say anything, they knew that it was Bella that had done it to me.

"I see not why they continue to protect her, "Jasper growled. "She is no better than a traitor and deserves to die."

At his words, Edward let out a growl. "You harm her and your dead."

"Of course you would choose to side with her." Rosalie said from where she sat in the windowsill. "You chose her over your own family. We've stood with you, whereas she's fought against you! I would think that your choice of who to side with would be clear."

"Edward," Alice said, laying a hand on his arm before he could respond to Rosalie's words. "Edward, we all know you miss Bella. We do too. But not this Bella. This is not _our_ Bella; this is not _your_ Bella. Our Bella never would have done any of this. She's changed. "

Edward was shaking his head before she had even finished. "No, she's still in there."

Esme laid a hand on my arm and looked up at me, pleading with her eyes to do something before it got worse. I gave her a small smile and raised my voice above the others to say:

"There's no need, anyways. We're leaving. Tonight."

At my words, the room got quiet. All eyes were on me. "I spoke with Aro after I saw to Bella's burns yesterday. We both agreed that it would be best if we left and let the Volturi deal with Bella. _All of us._"

"But Carlisle-"

I cut Edward off. "Edward, it's for the best. They're not going to kill her, even if she begs for it. I know not what they have in mind for her, but it is not death. Aro has promised me that they will not bethe end of her. As much as I do not wish to say it, we cannot help Bella anymore. She's in the Volturi's hands now and it's for the best. Now, I don't want to hear another word on it! Go get your stuff and get ready to leave. Our plane leaves in a couple hours."

For a moment, all they did was stare at me. Then they all filed out of the room in silence to go get their things and no doubt to talk about the change of events.

With a sigh, I fell back into the chair behind me. Esme sat down on the arm of the chair next to me and leaned against me, careful of my wounds, as always. She placed a comforting hand on my chest and laid her head on top of mine.

"I'm sure they'll understand," She murmured softly. "Things can't always work out like we want to them to."

I laid my hand over top of hers. "I know, dear. I know."

"What are we going to do with Edward?" Esme asked me quietly after a couple of minutes.

I sighed and pulled her down so that she sat on my lap, ignoring the protests of my wounds. "I don't know."

"What if he leaves us again? We can't make him stay, but I don't know if I can stand to see him leave again." Suddenly, she pulled her head back from where it had been resting on my chest and looked at me, panic on her face. "What if he goes looking for death again? Do you think he remembers what we told him?"

_What I told him, _I silently corrected in my head. Out loud I said, "I don't think that he'll leave us. He needs us, his family, right now, just as we need him. And I don't think he will. Bella's still alive, we have to hope that that'll be enough for him."

"I hope so."

**xoxo**

**Bella's Point of View**

Once again, Santiago brought me to the large doors that I knew hid my fate from me. He opened the doors and gestured for me to go in. Instead of following me as he usually would have, however, Santiago let the doors shut behind me with a clang. Instead of standing there and thinking over the oddity of that, I turned and looked towards the dais where the thrones sat.

Aro stood in front of his throne, his eyes watching my every movement. Nobody else was in the room with us. It was just me and him.

"Dear Isabella," Aro said, walking down the few steps that led up to the thrones. "You know, it is only by my mercy that you are still alive. If not for me, your dear Cullens would have torn you to pieces by now."

I shook my head. "They're not _my _Cullens. They never were. I was always theirs, until they threw me away, unwanted."

"Bella, I have seen into the very deeps of their minds, I've seen all of their thoughts. They cannot hide _anything _from me and you know this. I know how they truly feel for you, what went through their minds when you were stolen away from them. I know what they did when you were not with them. Edward has shown me what he went through when he left you. He showed me what happened when he returned. I've seen every moment that you've ever shared with the Cullens, every kiss between you and Edward, every touch. Would you listen to me if I stood here and told you of all that I have learned from them? Would it do you any good if I told you how they really feel for you? I don't think it would do you any good to hear it from any lips other than theirs. You need to let them tell you these things themselves and you need to trust what they tell you."

Aro reached out and grabbed my chin with one of his aged hands. He tilted my head up so that I had no choice but to look at him. His eyes held nothing but kindness in them for me. "You still wish for death."

"I can not bear the thought of being trapped in that cell for all of the ages of this world," I told him truthfully.

He sighed and let go of my face but did not move away from me. "Locking you up would be the more just punishment, then, for it is what you do not want. Death would be a relief out of the two choices I have given you. What if there was another choice for you?"

"Is there another choice?"

"There are always other options," Aro stated with a smile. "For example, you could kill me right now and try to leave. You could have killed Santiago any of the times that he brought you to me. I do not think that Carlisle would have stopped you should you have tried to leave while with him. None of these are the choice that I am going to offer you, however. What I have to offer you is a place among us, the Volturi. You and those that came with you cost us many lives. While some of those that fought on our side have chosen to remain with us, our numbers are still not as high as they once were. You can stay with us, work for us, until our numbers have grown again or you can spend your days locked away in that dank little cell. After you've served your term with us, if you choose that, well, we'll decide what happens to you then."

"What would you have me do?" I asked him. Was he really asking someone who had tried to kill him to come and work for him?

"Understand that you would not be allowed to leave the castle, Bella. We cannot trust you with that. You would be our protection, our shield while we are weakened. You would do what Renata and Jane and Alec did for us: you will stop any with malicious intent from doing us harm." I nodded my head at his words.

"Why have me do what they can surely do better?"

Aro laughed at my words. "Why, Bella, they fell in battle! Your shield took away what advantage my dear Jane and Alec had and your leaders took care of Renata themselves. When I said that few of us remain, I truly do mean a few. Santiago, Felix and Demetri still remain due to their fighting skills. The only other member of the guard that remains is little Corin, who survived by sheer luck. All others perished in the fight."

"So few remain…"

Aro gave me a said smile. "That's why we need you. What do you say?"

I nodded my head. "I'm in."

Aro's face lit up at my words and he clapped his hands together once. "Good! The others did not think that you would agree, but I told them that you would see reason."

I smiled at how excited Aro was and had just opened my mouth to speak when the doors opposite the ones that I had come in through opened. Carlisle and Esme came in and nodded their thanks to Felix, who was apparently standing guard outside the great doors.

"Kill you and escape, indeed," I muttered so quietly so that only Aro could hear me. He laughed and turned with a flourish to great the other two vampires.

"They are not happy with me, Aro," Carlisle said, either not seeing me or not caring that I was present. Esme, however, had seen me, for her eyes were locked on me.

Aro moved further away from me and went to Carlisle. He laid his hand gently on Carlisle's face, covering the mark I left, and let his eyes drift shut. After not even a minute he opened his eyes. "They'll be happier after they've left here."

"Edward won't."

"Things will get worked out for Edward before he leaves."

Carlisle seemed a little surprised by Aro's words. "Are you going to speak to him?"

"Not me, but somebody else."

Suddenly, all eyes in the room were on me. "Me?"

Aro took another step back towards me. "Remember what I told you, Isabella. It will do both of you good if you spoke."

"Aro, please..." I pleaded with a shake of my head.

"Why are you so afraid to talk to him?" Esme asked me, her voice a little harsher than I remembered it being. "What have we done to you to make you act like this towards us?"

"Fine," I snarled, her anger lighting my own. "Fine. I'll talk to him. But just remember that you asked for this. You asked me to talk to him."

The great doors opened behind me and I turned, stalking out of them. Santiago let the doors slam shut behind me before he led me on, no doubt having heard our words. He led me through several halls that I hadn't been through before until we came to one that a lot like the one that I had been in before, when I was being taken to get treated. I followed him until he stopped about halfway down the hall. In the rooms around us, I could hear movement, voices. They were packing to go. They were leaving.

The door in front of us opened without warning, and Santiago silently turned to leave. I paid him no attention, though, for in front of me was Edward, golden eyes wide with surprise. "Bella."

"Aro asked me to come talk to you," I told him, stepping inside his small room. "He thinks that it would benefit both of us if we did."

Edward just nodded his head blankly at me, seemingly still surprised. I sighed and walked over to the couch in the middle of the room and sat down on one end of it, not caring if it got dirty. I winced a little when I sat down, for I put too much pressure on one of my wounds. That seemed to snap Edward out of it: he walked over and sat down next to me, not once taking his eyes off of me.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his eyes going from the exposed wound on my face and neck to the bandages on my legs. The rest of my wounds were covered by my sweater and the shorts.

I rolled my eyes. "Does it look like I'm okay?"

"Bella, I'm so sorry," he said softly. "When you disappeared, we searched for you for weeks, months. No matter what Alice saw, which was never much, I wouldn't let myself believe that you were really dead, even when she saw you get bitten. I would have never stopped searching for you if we didn't have to leave Forks and come here to help the Volturi."

I didn't say anything, so he continued on. "Do remember anything from before you were changed? You had just graduated high school and made up with your best friend, Jacob. I was afraid that I was going to lose you to him, I really was. He tried so hard to get you to pick him over me, but you stayed with me nonetheless. He was hurt in the fight, defending Leah, another wolf in the pack. Got his whole right side smashed. He helped us out a lot searching for you. I could never thank him enough for that, for not giving up on you." He paused here and took a breath. "We were... we were engaged, Bella. Do you remember that?"

My head swam with everything that Edward had said to me. Jacob... Jake, he was hurt, defending me. But he must have gotten better, for he was helping to look for me. And Leah, Leah Clearwater, the only female pack member. We were engaged... I remembered it, him pulling me to the edge of his bed and him getting down on one knee to propose to me with his mothers ring. I recalled telling Riley one day that I should have been married by then. Riley... Riley was dead, killed by the vampire sitting next to me. Dead, my only friend...

I shook my head. "No," I whispered to myself, then repeated louder, "No!"

"Bella!" Edward cried, alarmed. He reached out to grab my arm, but I jumped up, out of his reach. "Bella, what's wrong?"

I shook my head again, venom welling up in my eyes. "You killed him! You killed him, my only true friend! Oh, god, Riley..."

"Bella, I had to do it. You have to understand that. He took you from me, I had to kill him."

"No, no you didn't," I whispered. "He did _nothing_ to you. He was never anything but good to me. He was my only friend and you killed him!"

"Bella..." He stood and reached out for me. His hand closed around my arm, squeezing one of the worse burns.

I screamed in pain and pulled back. "Don't touch me!" I cried as I stumbled back and tripped, landing on the floor. Edward looked at me with wide, worried eyes. Before he could move, however, the door burst open. Jasper and Alice stood in front, with Emmett and Rosalie behind them, no doubt drawn by my cries. Behind all of them stood Santiago, trying to get to me. They wouldn't move out of his way, though.

"What did you do?" one of the called, but I was too disoriented to tell which one. It took me a moment to realize that it was me that they spoke to. I bit my lip and shook my head, more hair falling down from my bun. I didn't know what to do.

"She didn't do anything," Edward said, coming to my defense. "It was me."

"Like hell it was," snarled Jasper, taking a step towards me.

Suddenly, the fear overcame me and I jumped up, bolting for the door. I knocked Alice over in my haste to get out and shoved through the others. I ignored Santiago and bolted down the hall, away from those that I once called family.

**xoxo**

**So, Bella and Edward finally talked like you all wanted them to! Happy?**

**Please, review!**


	16. Freedom

**You guys are amazing! I got twice as many reviews last chapter as I usually do and over three times as many people visited the chapter! Thank you! So many people asked my questions last chapter, none of which I can answer. But let me say, I know now where this story is going and there is probably only going to be a handful of chapters left!**

**It seems that FF is giving me some problems, so sorry if there are no quotation marks around their speach, because it deleted them and won't let me put them in.**

**Xoxo**

_March, 9 years later_

"Please."

His voice broke at the end as tears started to fall. I ignored it. It was a plea I had heard a thousand times before, in the many different languages I had been taught since coming to Volterra. ""Please… I have a family."

I smirked at him. "So didn't I."

With a practiced ease, I grabbed him by his hair and pulled his head back, revealing his neck and making his veins pop out. As soon as my fangs slashed his neck open, he stopped fighting. Not a single drop was spilt as I drank until there was nothing left. Licking my lips, I let him fall, his head connecting to the floor with a loud crack.

With a sigh, I picked him up by his shirt in one hand and my other victim in the same fashion with my other hand. I drug them over to the pile of bodies the others had made and tossed them onto it. I turned to leave before they lit them for I could not stand the smell of the burning flesh. It brought up memories that I would rather not dwell on.

Just as I was about to leave, a large hand wrapped around my arm. I turned to find Felix standing just behind me. "Aro asked that you wait. He wishes to speak to you once things have been cleaned up in here."

"That does not mean I need to wait in here," I said, pulling my arm out of his grasp. He nodded his head once in understandment and turned to continue helping with disposing of the bodies.

I left the room, letting the heavy doors shut with a bang behind me. Despite the fact that I knew that Aro wished to speak to me and that it wouldn't take long for them to clean up, I continued on down the hall, making no sound as I moved. Coming to one of the tall windows lining the hall, I stopped and leaned up against the edge of it, gazing out with my arms crossed over my chest.

After just a couple of minutes, Santiago came out and nodded at me. "Aro-"

"Wants to see me, yeah, I know." I pushed off of the wall and started back down the way I came. Despite the fact that I could have easily opened it on my own, Santiago held the door open for me. Once I had slipped in past him, he let the door quietly fall shut.

Aro and I weren't the only ones in the room as I thought it would be when he asked to see me. No, there stood another vampire, next to the throne in which Aro sat. He was tall and beautiful, with shinning black hair flowing in gentle waves down to the top of his back. When he turned his black eyes on me, it gave me the sense that he was lost and looking for someone who he had no hope of finding. For the briefest second, I wanted to do nothing but help him find this person. Then the thought was gone, as if it were never there. I let my shield slip out to Aro and pulled it tight against us, not liking the feeling of this new vampire.

As Aro stood, I moved further into the room. I didn't even try to hide the look of distrust on my face. Everything thing about this vampire had me on guard, from his looks to the feeling that he gave off. A small smile crossed his face, no doubt because of me. I hated him.

"Isabella," Aro said, gesturing towards the dark vampire with a flourish, "this is Julien."

I simply nodded my head at him, which made his smile grow even wider. "Hello, Isabella," he said with a heavy French accent.

"What is it Aro?"

"Such tones will get you no where, child. I would hope that you have learned that over the years." I sighed, impatient and wanting to get out of the room. "Julien is you replacement."

I sputtered, much to Julien's amusement. "My replacement?"

"Aro seems to agree that I can do your job better than you, Isabella," Julien said smugly.

Something about his comment brought me to the end of my nerves and I whipped my body around so that I was fully facing him. As I let a growl out, Julien's eyes landed on the side of my face that had been facing away from him before, his eyes widening at the sight of the scars marring my face. "Ugly, aren't they?"

"Isabella!" Aro said sharply. I turned to find that he was now standing just a couple steps away from me. "We did not do this to anger you, my dear one. Rather, we have done it to fulfill that… ah, _agreement_, we'll call it, that you and I had when you first came to us. I told you that we would hold you to us only until our numbers had increased, and then we'd see what we'd do with you once that time came. We'll, Isabella, that time has indeed come."

My mind was reeling, trying to make sense of what he was telling me. It was true; the number of the guard was increased in the past years, although many had the want to leave, for there was nothing holding them here now that Chelsea was gone. She was what held everyone there before and she had died in the fight. But despite that, the numbers had grown and many with powers had come to Aro. Now one had come who could protect the trio, one who could do my job for me. They were replacing me. My presence wasn't necessary anymore.

"So I'm not needed here anymore?"

Aro seemed to misunderstand my question. "We're not forcing you to leave, Isabella! We will always have room for you."

"I… I can leave?" I asked. "I'm really free?"

"You don't have to go."

I shook my head. "I'm leaving," I told boldly told him. "I just don't have anywhere to go."

Julien snorted at my words and mumbled under his breath in French. I turned on him, my hair swinging out behind me as I moved. "Que ? Où vous attendez-vous à ce que j'aille ? En arrière à ma famille _humaine _? Ils croient sans doute que je suis mort. Je ne sais pas que l'on leur a dit. Je n'ai aucune maison, aucun endroit pour aller, si évidemment je ne sais pas où je vais."

Both of them seemed surprised by my outburst, especially the fact that it was in French. "Si vous ne devez nulle part aller, donc pourquoi le congé ?" Julien asked me. "Quel est le point ?"

"Il n'y a aucune raison," I told him with a shake of my head. "Je suis juste pas heureux ici."

Aro, who had been listening the whole time, laid a hand on my arm. "When the Cullens were here," he started almost reluctantly, "I saw what they told your father, Charlie. They didn't tell him exactly what happened to you, but he knows that when you disappeared you weren't dead. They stayed in that miserable little town for about a year longer and in that time, he apparently became closer to a human woman. I never caught her name, but she was linked to those mongrels that you cared for so much. The Cullens believe that she may have told him of our nature."

"What are you trying to me?" I was confused. Why would he tell me this?

He sighed. "Do not tell him what we are., what you are. But you can go to him, let him know that you live. Already does your father know that you may live and he suspects that something unnatural was involved. He's suspected the Cullens for a long time."

I didn't know what to say. He was giving me permission to go see my father, a human? "What do you want from me?""I'm hurt, Isabella. I do something nice for you and accuse me of doing it for my own personal gain." Aro said, feigning hurt.

"I've spent nine years watching you and guarding you, Aro. I know better. It's the way that you are."

Aro smiled at me. "Don't try to hide from us, dear Bella. We will be watching you."

"Thank you," I told him with a real smile on my face. I turned to leave and only looked back when my hand was on the door. I looked at Julien. "J'espère que vous mourez une mort très pénible, mon cher."

His laughter followed me as I left the room.

I walked down the halls to my room, a small smile on my face. While I wasn't necessarily miserable there, I wasn't happy either. I longed to be able to leave and roam. Not once in the nine years that I was there did I ever set foot outside of the building. I wasn't even permitted to go down to the lobby. If I wasn't feeding then I was kept out of sight of the humans. Now, however, I could leave and breathe the fresh air once again.

Having reached my room, I went in, closed the door and stripped myself of the clothes that I was wearing. I slipped into a dark pair of jeans and a white t-shirt, with my Chuck Taylor's on my feet. I grabbed my long, black military style coat and moved over to my mirror as I did up the silver fastens on it. While it wasn't cold where I was, I knew it would be cold in Forks. In addition, its long sleeves and high collar hid the scars on my arms and neck. The only ones now visible were the ones that marred the side of my face. Clipping my hair, with the exception of a few stubborn pieces around my face, to the back of my head, I turned to leave. A glint of the light on something metal on my desk caught my attention, though, and I turned back to it.

In a small ceramic dish on my desk was the bracelet that Jacob gave to me. Both charms were still on it, the small wolf blackened by the fire, but still miraculously intact. I had completely forgotten about it when Riley took me, not even realizing that I was still wearing it. Somebody else must have brought it in here, because I definitely didn't. Putting it back in its rightful place around my wrist, I got my wallet out of a drawer in my desk, and then left the room for what was hopefully the last time.

I left the castle without running into anyone, thankfully. Outside, I moved through the shadows of the buildings under the bloody sky. I kept my head ducked down to hide my freshly red eyes. If anyone asked, I could always tell them that I was an albino. That would explain the eyes and the skin.

The city grew dark around me as I walked. I took my time, relishing in the feel of the wind in my face and the different tastes in the air. It all felt so fresh and clean to me after being cooped up for so long. It came to an end, however, as I came to the crowded airport. I got there just in time to get a one-way ticket to Seattle, Washington and barely had to wait before I could get on the plane. Settling back in my comfortable first class seat, I closed my eyes.

I was going home.

**Xoxo**

**French (If you translate it, it won't match up word for word, because some of the words have multiple meanings and they have a different word order than us) :**

"**Que ? Où vous attendez-vous à ce que j'aille ? En arrière à ma famille **_**humaine **_**? Ils croient sans doute que je suis mort. Je ne sais pas que l'on leur a dit. Je n'ai aucune maison, aucun endroit pour aller, si évidemment je ne sais pas où je vais." **-**What? Where do you expect me to go? Back to my human family? They probably think that I died. I do not know what they said to them. I have no home, no place to go, so of course I do not know where I'm going. **

"**Si vous ne devez nulle part aller, donc pourquoi le congé ?" Julien asked me. "Quel est le point ?"- If you do not have anywhere to go, then why leave? … What is the point?**

"**Il n'y a aucune raison," I told him with a shake of my head. "Je suis juste pas heureux ici."- There is no reason. … I am not happy here.**

"**J'espère que vous mourez une mort très pénible, mon cher."- I hope that you die a very painful death, my dear.**

**Please, review!**


	17. Home

**Sorry that it took so long! I've been real busy lately and I got maybe an hour off this afternoon and just sat down and wrote. I intended for something completely different to happen in this chapter, but somebody didn't want to step out of the spotlight...**

**If you see any mistakes let me know! I don't have time to read through this now, for it is late and I have to get up early and do the homework that I was supposed to be doing instead of writing this!**

**xoxo**

I could smell the rain before the plan had even landed.

It was not raining yet, but dark, ominous clouds were rolling in and it would be pouring any minute. The plane made it just in time. People rushed to get into the airport before it started raining, but I took my time, breathing in the familiar air. It was not quite home, not yet.

Not having any luggage to get, I made my way right through the crowded building, people moving out of my way without me having to do anything but glance at them. They knew that something was not quite right about me. These people had some instinct that I had lacked as a human. That lost instinct had probably cost me my mortal life.

Pulling my collar up tighter against my neck, I made my way out into the rain. The water fell quickly and heavily, but it felt nice against my skin. Casting my eyes about, I spotted the line of taxis in front of the airport, waiting for a passenger to come along and ask for a ride. I picked one cab and made my way over to it, sliding into the back seat. The driver, who had been dosing off until I had shut the backdoor, jerked awake. "Where to, sweets?"

"Forks. I'll tell you where to go once we get there."

The large taxi driver turned around to give me a surprised look. "Forks? What would ya want from there?"

"Why I go there is my own business," I said, pulling out some money and handing it to him. "Now drive."

The drive was long and uneventful. I watched as the sun just started to rise here and people came to life under it. As we got closer and closer to my destination, the streets started to get busier as people started driving to work. Then, as we got even closer to Forks and left the bigger cities behind, the streets became less and less crowded. Finally, with some of my directing, we were in downtown Forks. I paid the driver some more and got out, not even looking as he drove off.

Despite the fact that I had been gone over a decade, everything seemed the same. All of the stores were still in the same spot, with no new additions, and I could even see some people that I had known still working in the same place. The green trees still towered over everyone and everything. Everything even still sounded the same. Old cars rattled down the streets and newer, quieter ones moved along with them. People talked to others as they passed them, calling out greetings. Birds and small animals rustled the leaves on the trees and cried out to each other. And as I breathed it all in, I knew, without a doubt, that I was home.

My feet took me down the sidewalk without me even having to think about it. My whole body, my _being_, remembered Forks. It was the one place where I truly felt as though I belonged. It was where I was born, where I fell in love, where I missed while traveling with Riley. I could spend eternity haunting the little town, making sure that nothing ever changed about it.

The rain hit just as I reached my destination. My house still looked the same from the outside. My old, beat-up truck was even parked in the driveway, although the cruiser was not. Not wanting people to start staring, I started up towards the house and up the steps. The door was locked, but I remembered where the extra key was and got it down from about the door, replacing it when I had opened the door. I went inside and pulled the door shut behind me.

Everything looked the same. The house was as organized as it could with Charlie there. In fact, it seemed almost too organized for Charlie. Pushing the thought from my mind, I moved farther into the house and went into the living room.

Other than the pictures of me that were back on the mantle, everything looked the same as my fuzzy memory could remember. I inhaled deeply, letting Charlie's scent flow through me. It was not only his scent that I picked up, though. I could taste the tobacco's odor, a scent that faintly smelled of dog, and a warm, pleasant scent I could not quite place, along with others. As far as I could remember, Charlie didn't smoke or chew tobacco. The smell of it confused me.

I left the room, wanting to get away from the unpleasant smell. I moved out into the kitchen, running my hand over the counter I moved around the room. The warm smell was even more prominent here and I racked my brain, trying to think of where I had caught the scent before, if I ever had. If I did, I didn't remember it.

The table where we used to eat was covered with papers, only a small area in front my dad's chair cleared off. As I moved closer, I realized that it was my face peering up from many of the newspapers and posted that lay haphazardly on top of each other. Venom welled up in my eyes as I looked through the papers, showing all the work that Charlie had put into looking for me and proof that he hadn't given up yet, despite whatever the Cullens may have told him. He still had hope for me.

Blinking my eyes furiously, I set the papers down and walked out of the room and over to the stairs, which I made my way up. I hesitated before pushing open my door and stepping inside, leaving the door wide open behind me. Despite the fact that it was neater than I ever would have kept it, my room looked just the same. My clothes still hung in my closet, my bed was made, and the old rocking chair was still in the corner. Charlie's smell was very clear here, the only living scent that I could pick up. It was fairly fresh too, no more than three days old.

Just as I let a smile cross my face, I heard a car slow down in front of the house and pull up into the gravel drive. I froze, listening. I could hear a deep, throat laugh, accompanied by another, chuckle that seemed a little heavy than the other. There was someone else out there though, someone who didn't laugh alone with the others or even make a sound. I knew he was there, though, for I could hear his heart, stronger and louder than the other two. Its beats were confident and steady, powerful just as the person who housed it.

"Stay here," growled a husky voice that I immediately recognized. "There's somebody in the house."

I stood frozen, not even daring to breathe. Jacob moved away from the car, his feet silent to all who did not have my hearing as he moved towards the house. His steps told me that he was moving towards the front door, however, and not towards the window, so I still had a chance to run before I would be cornered. I silently moved to the window, hoping that my old best friend hadn't caught the noise. It seemed that he had not, for he still moved towards the front door. Cautiously, I peered out the window. Old, wrinkled Billy sat shotgun, still in the car, while my dad stood behind the open driver's side door, rain soaking him, watching the house. I moved a little out of the shadows to see Jake, who had stopped in the middle of the yard.

"Jacob," Charlie said suddenly, and I realized that he was looking at my face, which still peered out of the shadows. He didn't know who I was, but he had seen me.

I lowly cursed my foolishnesses I pushed the window open and darted out of it. My feet slammed into the branch of the withered old tree that stood next to the house, causing the branch they hit to snap and fall. I landed just a few feet from the tree line and dashed into them, Jacob already phased and on my trail.

He had the advantage of knowing the woods better than I did, but I was faster than he was and slighter, able to slip through places that he had to go around. As we ran, I began to smell the dog like scent that I had caught whiff of in Charlie's house. I realized that it must have come from Jacob when he had been over there. The smell was growing stronger now and there was starting to be slight differences in it. I tried to work this out in my mind as I ran, but before I could reason why, a loud snarl came from my left and it hit me.

I had crossed into La Push.

I cursed luck, which seemed to not be with me this day. Swerving to avoid the new, chocolate brown wolf, I tried to come up with a plan to get me out of the hole I was in. As I had to swerve again, almost scraping myself against a tree, I came up with an idea.

My eyes went from scanning the ground in front of me, to looking up, searching. As my eyes roamed the trees, I noticed a white gull flying above them, heading to my right. I realized that I must have been close to the beaches and I knew that if I could just reach them, I would have the advantage in the water. A particularly loud growl from the chocolate wolf that was just a few yards from my elbow reminded me that heading that direction was not an option, however.

Finally, my eyes found what I was looking for, and with a hard shove into hard ground under the muddy ground, I launched myself up into a tall tree. I climbed as high as I could go without risking the branches snapping out from under my weight. Even if they phased back into their human forms, the shape-shifters would not be able to reach me.

I could perfectly see the two large wolves at the base of the tree through the heavily falling rain. Jacob stood gazing up at me through the downfall, eyes unblinking, while the other one howled a long, sad note. Without warning, the russet wolf got up and stalked away from the tree, the other watching him as he went. Once Jacob was hidden from my eyes beneath a shorter tree, the remaining wolf turned his eyes on me and growled lowly.

"Quil, stop," Jacob's voice surprised me as he appeared back into my line of vision, dressed only in a pair of jeans. He didn't take his eyes off me as he spoke.

The wolf, Quil, didn't growl again, but watched Jake warily as he approached the tree. When Jacob moved up onto one of the lower branches however, he jumped forward, letting out a whine. He was ignored though and the now human shape shifter started to climb up the tree, just as I had. Once he was just over half the height I was up, he stopped.

"You've been here before." It was not a question.

I didn't answer, but gazed at him with unblinking eyes. "I do not know who you are, your face, it reminds me of somebody, but I'm not sure who." He paused there, giving me a chance to respond. When I didn't, he asked, "You used to live here, didn't you?"

"Yes," I answered slowly, with a nod of my head. Would he recognize my voice? "Yes, I lived here once."

"Who changed you?"

I knew what he was trying to ask without saying it outright. "Not the Cullen family."

"Who are you?" Jake asked with his husky voice. He tried to hide his surprise at my answer, but I knew him too well to not see it.

"Do not remember me?" I asked. "After all we went through, Jake, do you really not remember me?"

Before I had even finished speaking, he was shaking his head. "You disappeared."

"I reappeared." I stated simply. "Now, can I come down without you ripping me to shreds?"

"It would be best if you got off the res before it stops raining, actually," Jake told me in all seriousness. "Then, the others are less likely to pick up your scent."

I nodded my head and jumped down from the tree, landing lightly on my feet just a few feet away from Quil, whose fur stood on end. Jacob copied me, landing not even a yard away from me and yet not seeming bothered by my closeness.

"Go to the Cullen's empty house," he said. "We'll talk there."

I didn't question him on his choice of location but simply turned on my heel and left.

**xoxo**

**Ah, terrible ending, I know. But hey! I was bitten by the writitng bug and just have ideas for this story- and others!- just oozing out of me. **

**FYI, I've already started to plan a story to write after this, so keep an eye out for it once this is done. But don't worry, theres still a few more chapter to go in this one!**

**Please, review!**


	18. Jacob

**:O Am I really updating twice in just three days? Yes, yes I really am.**

**Xoxo **

The trees in front of me gave away and suddenly, the Cullen manor stood before me.

I stopped and gazed up at it. It stood tall and proud, but empty. The rain soaked it, beating against the dark glass that practically covered the house.

Taking a deep breath, I took a step forward, out from the shielding presence of the trees. The rain beat down against me full force now, plastering my hair and clothes to my body. I quickly moved up onto the coverage of the porch. As soon as I set foot on the porch, _their_ scents swirled around me, much more recent than I would have thought.

Sliding down to sit against the house, I let my eyes slip shut and held my breath. I did not want to think about _them_, not here. My mind could not be distracted when I spoke to Jacob, for if I said the wrong thing, he could, and would, kill me. Already did Jacob have several reasons to kill me - I was a vampire, his sworn enemy, _and_ I had crossed onto his territory without his permission.

Jacob's quiet footsteps alerted me to his human presence in the meadow surrounding the mansion, but I did not get up or open my eyes. I hoped that it would tell him that I trusted him not to try to take advantage of me.

"Do you mind if we stay out here, Jacob?" I asked as he came to a stop in front of me.

"It's fine," he answered. After a moment of hesitation, Jacob asked, "Are you okay?"

I opened my eyes to gaze up at him. "No."

A typical Jake movement, he raised his eyebrows at me without saying anything. After I did not say anything, he slid to the ground, resting his back against one of the columns on the porch. I could see the rain beating against his back and wondered if it felt good against his hot skin.

He didn't beat around the bush. "What happened to you Bella?"

"Did the Cullens not tell you?" I asked him in return.

"They told me what they know, although they had to wait until I got better," Jake told me. "All we knew was that the leech's helper had taken you. It wasn't until later that Alice came back to tell me that you were dead."

"Wait, what? What do you mean, 'until I got better'? And she saw me dead?"

He sighed. "What happened to me isn't important right now, Bella. This conversation is on _my_ terms, not yours. Yes, she came back maybe a month or so after you had disappeared to tell us to give up searching, that some strange vampire had killed you. She even told Charlie, although he didn't stop looking for you. We're not sure if he had given up hope, or if he just wanted to find your body for some closure. The rest of us gave up looking."

"Does he know about you?" I asked despite the fact that he had said that the conversation was on his terms. He could not stop me from asking questions about Charlie.

"Yeah," Jacob answered with a small smile. "He didn't believe us at first. I had to actually show him."

I could not help it: my jaw dropped in surprise. "You _phased_ in front of my dad?" I demanded of him. "And Sam actually let you?"

"We had to. None of us wanted to lie to Charlie about you and get his hopes up when we had little hope ourselves. And besides, Bella, Sam stepped down and stopped phasing just days after the fight. "

"He did?" Jake nodded his head. "But then, who…"

"I did. I was supposed to be the alpha originally, but Sam phased first." I got the feeling that he had told me this before. "No more beating around the bush, Bella. What happened to you?"

With a sigh, I ran my hands down my face and started my story. I told him everything that I could remember; from the moment that Riley took me to the Volturi letting me go. Once I had started, it all just spilt out. Finally being able to tell somebody about all of the fears and doubts that I had felt nice. I even told him of what happened during the fight and in the rooms with the Cullens. The rain picked up as I spoke, lightening racing across the dark sky and thunder booming like the sound of vampires playing baseball.

Finally, as I told him of how I got there and why I was there, my story came to a close. Jacob's eyes bore into mine and for a moment, there was no sound but the falling rain.

"I can't let you see Charlie, not now."

His words tore through me and I jumped to my feet in outrage? "What?" I exclaimed as he got to his feet more slowly. "What do mean I can't see him? I came all the way here just to see Charlie! You can't do this to me; he's all I have left."

"Bella, calm down." He laid a large hand on my arm, but I jerked away from him without even really thinking about it. "I'm not going to keep you from seeing your dad period; I just meant that you can't see him _yet_. There are some things we need to establish before you can do anything."

I crossed my arms and watched him, waiting. "First of all, everything that applied to the Cullens applies to you. That means you cannot bite a human or cross onto our land without my permission. Secondly, you are not allowed to visit anyone else in Forks other than Charlie. The only ones who can see that you're back are the pack, including those who have stopped phasing, Charlie, my dad, and Sue Clearwater, understand?" I nodded my head and he continued. "As long as you plan on coming to Forks or are in Forks, you cannot feed on humans. We don't care if you choose to starve or go the path that the Cullens have, but if we get wind of you feeding from humans before coming here, we will not hesitate to come after you. Lastly, you cannot tell Charlie what you are or where you've been. It's better for him if he doesn't know everything."

Sighing, I nodded my head. They were all reasonable requests. "Alright. But it's my turn to ask the questions now. Who is Sue?"

"Sue Clearwater," Jacob clarified with a raise of his eyebrows. "Sue has been good to Charlie since you disappeared and been over there a lot with my dad, too, trying to help him out. She was married to Harry Clearwater, who was a good friend to both of our fathers. He passed away before you disappeared, when his kids phased." He hesitated before adding, "The day you jumped off the cliff was the day he died."

My eyes closed as a foggy memory of cold water and strong currents broke through to the front of my mind. "You saved me. And when we got back to my house, Alice was there. She and I left to go save Edward." I opened my eyes and looked at Jake. "Everything changed that day."

"Yeah, it really did."

"What happened to you during the fight?" I queried.

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with one large hand. "After we had finished with most of the newborns and Edward had rushed off after you, things were getting cleaned up. We didn't know what was going on, but couldn't follow him because of those vulture people that were coming. I caught in Leah's mind that she had found a newborn hiding in the trees and that she was going to go after it. It caught her off guard when it came at her, though, and I got in between them. It crushed all the bones in the right half of my body."

"Oh God, Jake!" My hands flew up to cover my mouth. "Why would you do something so stupid?"

Jacob let out a bark of a laugh. "Do you know how many times I've been asked that?" He chuckled as he spoke, then added on a more serious note, "Carlisle drugged me up real good and patched me up. I had to stay in bed for a couple of days while I healed, but after that, I was fine. Of course, as soon as I was up and moving again, they told me that you were missing and that Sam had stepped down, leaving me in charge."

"I'm sorry Jake."

"It's okay. It's not like you could have stopped him from taking you or gotten away, anyways." I gave Jake a tight smile, trying to hide my inner turmoil. What he said hit home because I _could_ have gotten away, I _could_ have returned. All those times after I had been changed and after the duo had left that Riley had left me on my own to hunt, I could have left. He would not have known until I was far away, already on my way home. There were so many times that I had the chance and I knew it, but I never took it.

"Earth to Bella. Are you okay?"

Jake's voice caught my attention and I smiled at him. "Yeah, I'm fine, Jake. Just thinking."

"Is there anything else you wanted to know?" Jake asked. I shook my head. "Before we go, then, is there anything you can do about your eyes? They might alarm Charlie."

"Like my reappearance won't," I muttered lowly and he laughed. "There's not anything I can do that won't take awhile. The only thing that I can think of that won't take more than a week or two is doing what the Cullens did, and even then, that would only make them more orange than anything."

"Wouldn't something like colored contacts or something work?" Jacob asked.

"They would help, although they would disincarnate in a few hours from the venom in my eyes. It's not like I have any on me anyways or like there's anywhere around here that I can get some."

Jake looked past me, at the house. "They might, though."

I turned and looked at the house. There were so many memories that I had from there, both good and bad. I had so many reasons not to go inside, too. It was for Charlie, though…

I let out a breath. "I'll see if they have any somewhere in there."

"Good," Jake replied with a nod. "I'll go back to Charlie and Billy and tell them that we caught the intruder. I won't tell them that it's you, though."

Jake turned to walk off the porch, back into the storm and I headed towards the door. "Oh, and Bella?" I turned. "Welcome back."

**Xoxo**

In the large bathroom that Alice used to torture me in was several boxes of brown contacts. She must have assumed that we would need them once I was changed. I got a pair out and put them in, storing another pair in their case in my coat pocket. I quickly, left the house, not daring to breathe.

The rain washed their scent away from me as I moved under it. I gulped down the fresh air, getting rid of the taste that had surrounded the manor and that had seeped into my mouth. As another flash of lightening lit up the sky, I picked up speed. I was already soaked, but if I could keep from getting much wetter then I would dry faster.

It only took a couple minutes of running for me to be standing in the trees that boarded the side yard of my old home. I could hear the three of them chattering away inside, talking about the Cullens. Charlie had obviously made the connection between who he had seen jump out of the window and them.

Taking a deep breath, I walked out from under the trees at a human pace and went silently up to the front door. Readying myself for this, I closed my eyes, took a second deep breath, and then reopened my eyes. I raised my hand and knocked three times on the door.

The voices inside instantly stopped at the noise of my knock. "It's okay, Charlie, you can answer it," I heard Jacob say. One of the chairs in the kitchen scraped back across the floor and heavy footfalls made their way before the door. Then, the door opened and my dad stood before me.

His 47 years were showing. His face had more lines than I remembered it having and his hair had much more gray in it. His frame was lighter, his face more gaunt. Charlie's eyes had darkened; they lacked the light that used to shine out of them. It killed me to know that this was my fault.

"Hey, dad," I said softly, a small, shy smile crossing my face.

His eyes widened in surprise. They did not look at the strange color of my eyes, or the ugly scar that ran down the side of my face and neck, though. They just looked at me, nothing else.

Somehow knowing that it really was me and not some cruel trick, Charlie pulled me into his arms. "Oh God, Bells, you're back…"

And for the first time that I could remember, my dad cried.

**Xoxo**

**I was definitely supposed to be writing my book report instead of doing this, but oh well. Who needs sleep anyways?**

**I have a poll up on my profile and would really appreciate it if you would go vote on it! I know, the summaries are really short, but I don't want to put too much because that might give what happens away.**

**Please, review! I would love to hit 200 reviews by the time this is done, which won't be long!**


	19. Charlie

**Sorry this took so long. I had a couple breakdowns (And I do mean breakdowns) while writing this, but I got it done. **

**Urgh, okay, so I have been trying to post this for days, but Fanfiction hasn't been letting me. ***Big thanks to KACULLEN for helping me get this up!**

**Xoxo**

"I've missed you so much, Bells."

I smiled at my dad as he shut the door behind me. "I know dad. I've really missed you, too."

"What happened to you?" he asked me, eyes raking down my face and to the scars that were once hidden by my coat but were now exposed.

My feet carried me the few steps into the kitchen. "Fire. But don't worry about it, dad. I'm fine and the past is the past." I nodded my head at the two russet men seated at the table. "Billy, Jacob."

Jacob nodded his head at me, but his father, Billy, narrowed his hard eyes at me, scrutinizing. They ran over me, taking everything in. Eventually they came to a rest on my eyes. He stared at me through folds of tanned skin and I gazed back at him through my contacts. It was clear that he knew what I was. I wondered if my reappearance was as much a surprise to him as it was to Charlie or if Jake had managed to tell him without my dad around to hear.

"You're one of the Cullens now, aren't you?'

My dad's words caught me off guard and my head whipped around faster than a human would have been able to. He was leaning in the door of the kitchen, posture relaxed, but observing me with the same keen eyes that Billy was. How much did he know?

I gave him a small smile and hopped up so that I was sitting on the counter behind me. "I don't know what you mean, dad."

"You do know what I mean, Bells," he sighed and ran a hand over his weary face. "You've changed. You look like them now, the Cullens. You're whatever they are. "

I glanced over at Jacob, who gave me a slight nod. I heaved out a sigh. "You see too much, just like I did." I gave him a smile to let Charlie know that this was okay. "And you're right; I'm not what I used to be. But I'm not a Cullen."

Just as my dad opened his mouth to reply, the phone rang just inches from his head. He did not move, watching me. I wondered if he was even going to answer it. After a few more seconds, though, he reached out slowly with one hand and lifted the phone off the hook. "Hello?"

As soon as the trilling voice on the other end of the line reached my ears, my whole body stiffened, my eyes closing in an effort to control myself. My hands shook, clenched in fists. I had stopped breathing and had yet to start again. Could it possibly be just a coincidence that Alice called the moment I reached my father? Had Aro called them and told the Cullens that I was out and going to see my father?

"Alice!" My dad's tone was mildly surprised. "I haven't heard from you in awhile, hun."

Her voice flittered through the phone. "I know Charlie, and I'm sorry. We've been very busy lately though. A lot has been going on. But listen, Charlie, I need to talk to you. About Bella."

My eyes snapped open. Charlie's wide eyes met mine as he hoarsely asked, "What about her?"

"I know you don't want to hear this Charlie, but we have to tell you." Her voice was heavier than just a moment before, as if just the though of me was a burden to her. "She's still alive, Charlie, but she's not herself. Bella's… dangerous. And she's out there somewhere, wondering around on her own, we believe."

"I don't believe you. Bella isn't dangerous."

"You haven't seen her, Charlie. I have. She is not the same person. She is a liar, a deceiver, a _murder_. Bella is not safe for you to be near. We do not think that she will come for you, but she may. We do not even know if she is _allowed_ to communicate with you as we are. If she does come near you, though, we expect Jacob to keep you safe." Her words angered me. They honestly thought that I would hurt my own father?

Charlie had started to shake his head before she had even finished talking. "Alice, I… I cannot believe that. That's just not my Bells."

"You don't know what she did, Charlie!" Alice's shrill voice was practically a yell. "You have _no_ idea! She almost tore our family apart. She tried to-" Her words cut off, as if she could not say what I had tried to do.

My dad's eyes bore into mine, asking if what Alice said was true. I did not move. I refused to answer.

"I think it's about time we left, dad." Jacob's voice was loud in the small kitchen as he walked over to stand behind his father. "We'll see you tomorrow, alright?"

Charlie did not respond to Jake's words and neither did Billy as he was rolled out of the house past Charlie. It was not until he heard their car pull away that my father spoke again.

"What did she do to you, Alice? What did Bella do?"

For a moment, I did not think that Alice would answer. "She tried to kill Carlisle. She tried to _kill_ him, Charlie!"

Clearly, it was not what my dad had been expecting. His eyes widened even more and his whole stance tensed with surprise. Again, did his eyes run over the scar marring my face and follow it down my neck and onto my arm. This time, however, they knew. He caught on too quickly.

"Charlie?" Her voice was louder than before, worried. "I can't see you! I know that d- I know Jacob left, but I still cannot see you! Are you okay?"

Mentally, I cursed myself. Of course, she would realize that something was wrong if she could not see Charlie and Jake was not here. That was probably how she knew that I had left the Volturi. Alice was not stupid; she knew that Aro would not waste me. So when the Volturi became visible to her again sometime in the past day, she must have known that it was because I left and not because I was dead. It would not take her long to realize why she could not see Charlie now.

"I have to go now, dad," I told him suddenly, slidding off the counter. I did not care if Alice heard me now.

"Charlie!" Alice called through the phone, clearly having heard me. I had the phone in my hand before he could even blink, however.

"Goodbye Alice."

Would they think that I had killed him? Would they keep calling Charlie to make sure that he was okay? Or maybe one of them might come down to actually check on him? I did not care. I would not be around when they did, if they did.

Charlie still stood in the same spot, but now his eyes were on me. "I'm sorry dad, but I have to go. I can't be here if they check up on you to make sure that you're okay."

"You're the reason they had to go away not too long after you disappeared, aren't you?" my dad queered. "You are the reason they said they might not come back."

I offered up a small smile. "You get too much out of what people say, dad. You really do."

A loud clap of thunder caught my attention and I turned my head to gaze out of the window. Rain still fell heavily and lightening forked across the sky, following the thunder. It was dark out, darker than it should have been.

"Will I see you again?"

His words caught my attention and I turned my head back to my father with a sad smile on my face. "I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen. But I can't be here if they come to check up on you. I just can't."

Shoulders slumped, Charlie sighed. All of this must have been taking its toll on him. His long lost daughter had suddenly showed up, scarred and secretive. Then he gets a call from an old friend, saying that said daughter is dangerous and on the prowl. Now, without explaining where she has been or where she is going, his daughter was leaving. It was a lot for him to take in.

Taking a stride forward, I pulled my dad into my arms. Neither of us were ones to show affection for one another, but this was different. "I'll keep in touch with you," I promised. "I'll call or write you, 'kay? And I might even stop by if I can."

Simply nodding, Charlie wrapped his arms tightly around me. I did not want to let him go and I don't think he wanted to let me leave either. As thunder shook the house, however, I pulled away. "I'll miss you, dad."

"Miss you, Bells." His voice was gruff, sad. I gave him one last smile before pulling my coat on and sweeping out into the storm.

As I headed away from the house, the phone started to ring.

**Xoxo**

At first, I was not sure where I was going.

My feet carried me through the storm, letting the rain soak me. I ran, the wind whipping the hair that had fallen out of the clip black, the edges of my coat floating behind me. It was refreshing; the air felt cleaner than usual. I breathed it in, letting it wash my mouth clean. It wiped the scent of humans- and the stank of dog- away. Finally, I was able to breathe freely.

Eventually, I left the rain behind. The dark, ominous clouds rolled in one direction while I ran in another. As I moved away from the downfall, the noises of civilization started to become more animated, louder; people were coming out, going back to their business now that the rain had moved on.

As I moved further south, towards California, the skies started to clear up, clouds giving away to sun. I had to stop my travels, for people were becoming more frequent and my chances of being caught were increasing. Flipping my collar up against my neck, I moved through the shadows of the buildings, careful not to get in the sunlight's path. Finding a small bar that was bustling with business, I moved inside. Unlike last time I was in a place like this, nobody took notice of me. They were all too happy, too cheerful to notice that something was off. It was just a bunch of people there to enjoy a beer after work.

Buying myself a drink that would go to waste, I settled down in a corner to wait out the sunlight.

**Xoxo**

**Ahem, I only have one thing to say...**

**ONE MORE CHAPTER LEFT!**

**Please, review!**


	20. Goodbye

**Okay, before I start this chapter, I want to give thanks to three people:  
Moonlightdarkness724, even though she has abandoned the sight... Angels of Twilight, I know you have a lot going on, so thanks for finding the time to still read the crap I pump out! And KACULLEN, thanks for asking all those questions, which really helped to inspire me and just for being such a help in general!**

**And now, the last chapter!**

**Xoxo**

I traveled for weeks, never quite sure of where I was going. Always careful to never get too close to the southern vampires, I moved along the coast. Not once did I come across another like me, although I crossed their scents several times. Us nomads went about our own business, for the most part, and did not interact with others who did not wish to. It was a simple life.

At times, it felt as though my wonderings had a purpose, as if I was looking for something- or someone. The feeling never passed as the days flew by and it eventually came to the point where I did not even notice it anymore. It had become a part of me, this searching feeling. And I think, even if I never consciously acknowledged it, I always knew who I was looking for.

In the heat of late summer, the small coastal town I was passing through was sticky, the air humid. Dark, heavy clouds were floating in from over the waters, but they did not smell of heavy rain. They simply rumbled, threatening to unleash their torrants on us.

It was anglers' village, small boats filling the harbor. The air had a fishy tint to it and it was almost sickening. Standing on the some rocks lining the coast, the smells of fish and salt overwhelmed me: it was all that I could smell. I did not mind, however, for it took my hungry mind off of the humans bustling behind me, eager to get home in case the clouds did decide to unleash their fury.

A loud _boom_ caught my attention. I would have believed it to be thunder if it had come from above, but this did not. It came from further down along the coast, where the houses and buildings started to give away to trees, where nature took over for man. Despite what my better instincts told me, I set off towards the sound. I knew that this was what I had been searching for.

Following the road leading towards the trees, I travelled, head held low, collar high. The few people risking the rumbling clouds paid me no attention. I was just another person rushing to get home before the rain set in, if it did. There was nothing strange about that.

The sidewalk slowly trailed off as it reached the trees, picking back up as a hiking trail at the edge of the woods. As soon as I had gone just a few yards into the woods, my head came up and my arms moved out of my pocket. My feet ghosted over the ground as I ran, barely touching the foliage under them before they were off again, carrying me away.

The thunder like sound met my ears again. It was a familiar sound, but I could not place it. The idea of my perfect memory not being able to place it made me wonder if it was something from my human life.

Just a few minutes later, a loud _crack_ sounded threw the air. Following just seconds later, a small object came shooting towards me. It smashed into the ground, then bounced and rolled to a stop right at my feet. I did not have to hear the person speeding towards me after the ball to realize what it was I had been hearing.

Baseball. _Vampire_ baseball.

Before I even had time to think, I could hear somebody racing through the treeslike a bullet, after the ball that lay at my feet. I backed up one step, then another. Whoever it was would see me before I could get anywhere, though. Just before they came into view, I jumped up into the leafy tree overhead.

Jasper came into sight below me. Right as he reached for the ball, he froze. Lips curling up over his teeth, he stood up straight and looked around. I froze, not daring to breathe, with my shield pulled tightly to myself. After a moment, he turned and left, leaving the ball behind. Despite my better judgment, I jumped out of the tree to follow him. Somehow, I knew that I had been searching for the Cullens this whole time.

Forgotten ball in hand, I followed Jasper. I moved at a steady pace, careful not to alert them to my presence yet. There was a flash of light and a low rumble of actual thunder from overhead, but still no rain fell.

"… fair!" A light voice reached my ears just as the Cullens came into view. They stood gathered in the middle of a large, open field. "I don't know if she's coming or not!"

Jasper's voice was angry as he spoke, apparently still holding a grudge against me. "That's why we need to find her before she comes to us."

"Bella is no longer our responsibility. Perhaps she is just passing through. Why cause a commotion when it could be avoided?" Carlisle sensibly reasoned.

"She's dangerous, Carlisle!" Alice burst out, her small hands flying up into the air. "Do you really think she would just pass through without coming to us or doing something to at least draw attention to us?"

Edward had started to shake his head before she had even finished. "Bella wouldn't do that. She knows our rules. Drawing attention to us would draw attention to her also and she already has one strike with the Volturi."

"Edward," the doctor started, his voice heavier than before. "Alice is right. I know you do not want to hear this, but Bella is not the same girl you fell in love with. Her mind has been… corrupted by all the lies she has been fed and all that she has been through. Her mind is twisted with doubt and confusion. We do not even know how much she remembers or how much what she remembers has been twisted by Stefan, Vladimir and Riley."

At the names of the three vampires that were all I knew in the beginning of my damnation, I flinched. It hurt to just hear the names of the two who used me and the one who actually cared, the only person who really understood me…

Sick of listening to them talk about me, I stepped out from the trees, tossing the ball between my hands lightly.

"Oh, how sweet, Carlisle," I sneered. "You think I'm insane."

All of their eyes locked on me. Jasper and Emmett seemed to move unthinkingly to stand in front of Alice and Rosalie, shielding them from me. A low growl ripped out from Jasper, deep and throaty. The other three did not move.

"Bella," Edward hoarsely said. I ignored him.

"Now doesn't this seem familiar?" I asked, taking a step forward, still lightly tossing the ball between my hands. "A nice, family game of baseball, interrupted by somebody unwanted, who showed up earlier than expected. Funny, isn't it?"

"It'll end the same way too. With your death!"

"Jasper!" Carlisle snapped, but I simply laughed.

Carlisle extended his arm in a welcoming gesture, revealing the pockled scars that covered it. Unlike mine, his scars were not as severe, nor were they in as obvious places. The marks on his face were light, probably unnoticeable to the human eye. Mine, on the other hand, were thick and obvious, even giving a little twist to my facial features.

I let a smirk slide its way onto my face. "It's fine, Carlisle, no more than I deserve, really. After all, I wasn't that… amicable last time we met. But really, I think that's understandable."

"What did we ever do to you to deserve this?"

I raised my eyebrows, surprised, and cocked my head to the side to stare at Esme, who had moved out from behind the others. "What did we ever do but protect you and love you?"

"What did you ever do?" I sneered, taking another step forward. "_What did you ever do? _You abandoned me, left me heartbroken without a goodbye from any of you except for the one who hurt me the most! You tore me away from my best friend, the one who was actually there for me! Again and again was my life put in danger just from being around you. And finally, you left me alone in the woods with an inexperienced teenage wolf while there was a vampire army on the lose, their purpose to kill me!"

"You act as though you're the only one who lost anything!" yelled Alice. She would have continued on, if Edward had not cut over her in a low, soft voice.

"Bella, not only bad happened when you were with us. Do you not remember the good? You were part of our family. We loved and protected you, always doing what we thought was best. Even though we left you and I broke your heart, _you _came and saved _me_when I needed you. The seven of us came back. Things went on as they had before. We were in love with each other and engaged. We were so close to that, Bella, so close to everything, and I made one little mistake and now everything has changed. That doesn't mean that we can't work to make things better."

As he spoke, Edward had gradually moved away from his family and towards me. Now, he stood only a step away from me, a distance that either one of us could easily close, or enlarge. I could not move, though. My mind was reeling, images clogging it up, confusing me, and making me question what I have known. It was too much; I could not handle it all.

"My heart…"

I could not do this.

Stepping back, I enlarged the space that Edward had just closed and pulled my face out of reach of the hand that had just been resting against my cheek. Edward looked hurt, but not surprised. Behind him, his family's faces were all cool masks, showing nothing. The only one who even had any emotion on their face was Carlisle, who watched us with sympathy.

"No." My voice was strong and cold. "No. I don't belong here."

"You have always belonged with us; from the moment we met you have belonged with us."

Eyes connected with his, I kept my head held high. "I may have belonged with you years ago and I may belong with you again, years from now, but right now, I don't."

He understood. Even though he did not say anything, I knew that Edward understood me. If he wanted there to be any chance of me being part of his family again, he knew that he had to let go. Of course, there was always the chance that I would not come back, but that had to be a risk that he was willing to take.

I tossed the ball lightly between my hands a few more times before I through back to the family. Emmet caught it in his large paw of a hand, nodding thanks to me wordlessly.

I did not say anything, did not let a flicker of anything cross my face, as I turned to leave. This would be the way that we would part, perhaps for the last time: no goodbyes, no hugs, no tears, no nothing. It was better off this way.

"Bella," Carlisle called just before I disappeared into the trees. I stopped, but did not turn around. "You will _always _have a home with us."

**Xoxo**

Once again, I was on my own. Wondering.

Sometimes I wondered if this was all I would ever be. It was not often though, for I enjoyed the peace of being alone. Days like this, when the sun was shining and nobody was around, especially made me appreciate it. I could lie out, letting the sun temporarily warm my body, and just relax. There was nothing, nobody, to distract me. It was just me.

As the sun set behind the horizon, I had to get up. It was time for me to set out again, heading towards nothing, to wait for the sun to come up again and warm me. I hated the cold nights, when the air was not as thick, and the light did not dance off every surface of everything. But just as the days could not last forever, neither could the nights.

The sun sank over the edge of the world and I sighed.

Goodbye. For now.

**Xoxo**

**THE END**

**Not exactly the bang that I wanted to go out with, not even the ending I had in mind when I started writing this chapter, but it works. I'm sure I can piss at least one person off with it, so my goal has been fulfilled. Oh, and no, THERE WILL NOT BE A SEQUEL!**

**I want to give everybody who read this a huge thanks! In comparison to its size, this is my most successful story to date! I never thought that this many people would read and enjoy it! Any questions you have, I will be glad to answer! And go ahead, feel free to harass me about this. I know you want to. ;)**

**So, for the last time, PLEASE REVIEW! **


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